3S 

1415 

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AN  INDUCTIVE  STUDY 


OF    THE 


METAPHORICAL    LANGUAGE 


IN    THE 


BOOK  OF  JOB 


BY 


EARLE   FENTON    PALMER,  M.A.,  PH.D. 


THESIS   FOR  THE   DOCTORATE 

ACCEPTED  IN  PARTIAL  FULFILLMENT  OF  THE  REQUIREMENTS 

FOR  THE  DEGREE  OF  DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY 

NEW  YORK  UNIVERSITY 

APRIL,   1906 


PRESS  OF 

THE    NEW  ERA  PRINTING  COMPANY. 
LANCASTER,    PA. 


AN  INDUCTIVE  STUDY 


OF    THE 


METAPHORICAL    LANGUAGE 


IN    THE 


BOOK  OF  JOB 


BY 

EARLE   FENTON   PALMER,  M.A.,  PH.D. 


THESIS  FOR  THE   DOCTORATE 

ACCEPTED  IN  PARTIAL  FULFILLMENT  OF  THE  REQUIREMENTS 

FOR  THE  DEGREE  OF  DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY 

NEW  YORK  UNIVERSITY 

APRIL,  1906 


PRESS  OF 

THE  NEW  ERA  PRINTING  COMPANY. 

LANCASTER,    PA. 

1906 


•.* 


CONTENTS.       , 

PAGE. 

PART  I.     FACTS  SUGGESTING  THE  STUDY: 

A.  The   Literature   Itself 

Appreciations 1 

Theme 2 

Dramatic  Element  .........  3 

Cycle  Structure 5 

Space   Allotment     .........  6 

B.  Attention  to  Details,  Characteristic  of  the  Oriental  Mind       .  7 

PART  II.     MATERIAL  FOR  THE  STUDY: 

I.  The  Metaphors  in  the  Prose  Portions 12 

(a)    Familiar  and  Colloquial  Images     .         .         .         .         .  12 

(&)    War 12 

II.  The  Metaphors  in  the  Speeches  of  Job  .         .         .         .         .  12 

A.  Nature 12 

(a)   Aspects  of  the  Sky 12 

1.  Clouds 12 

2.  The    Heavens 12 

3.  The   Stars 12 

4.  Day  and  Night 12 

5.  The  Seasons 13 

6.  Eclipse 13 

7.  Storm 13 

8.  Wind 13 

(6)   Aspects  of  Water 13 

1.  The  Sea 13 

2.  The  Brooks 13 

3.  Water 14 

(c)  Aspects  of  the  Earth 14 

1.  The    Earth 14 

2.  The  Mountains 14 

3.  Minerals 14 

4.  Clay,  Dust  and  Ashes 15 

(d)  The  Vegetable  Kingdom 15 

1.  Trees 15 

2.  Flowers 16 

3.  Grain 16 

4.  Plants 16 

(e)  The  Animal  Kingdom 16 

1.  Animals         ........  16 

2.  Birds 16 

3.  Serpents  and  Fish 16 


iv  CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

B.  Man  and  Human  Life 17 

(a)    Government       ........  17 

1.  Kings  and  Princes       ......  17 

2.  Priests 17 

3.  Judges  and  Counsellors        .         .         .         .         .17 

4.  Prisons,  Courts  and  Trial 17 

(&)   Various  Occupations 17 

(c)  Agriculture        ........  18 

(d)  Trades,  Tools  and  Products 18 

1.  Trades 18 

2.  Tools 18 

3.  Products 19 

(e)  Domestic  Life,  Family  Relations,  Birth,  Servants, 

Dress 19 

1.  Family 19 

2.  Birth 19 

3.  Servants 19 

4.  Clothes 20 

(f)  Manners,  Customs  and  Amusements         ...  20 

1.  Manners  and  Customs  ......  20 

2.  Amusements          .......  20 

(g)  Colloquial,  Coarse  and  Familiar  Images         .         .  21 
(h)   The  body  and  its  parts,  including  the  senses  and 

food 21 

1.  Parts  of  the  Body         ....         7         .  21 

2.  Functions  of  the  Body 22 

3.  Food 22 

(  i)    Subjective   Life 22 

(  fc)   Death 22 

(   1)   War 22 

(m)   Scripture          ........  23 

(  n)   Miscellaneous 23 

III.  Metaphors  in  the  speeches  of  Eliphaz  .....  23 

A.  Nature 23 

(a)   Aspects  of  the  Sky 23 

1.  The  Sky 23 

2.  Day  and  Night 23 

3.  Storm             23 

(6)   Aspects  of  Water 23 

(c)  The  Earth 23 

2.  The  Elements 24 

3.  Minerals 24 

(d)  Vegetable  Kingdom 24 

(e)  Animal  Kingdom      .......  24 

H.  Man  and  Human  Life 24 

(a)   Various  Occupations         ......  24 


CONTENTS.  V 

PAGE. 

1.  Agriculture 24 

(6)   Domestic  Life 24 

1.  Houses 24 

2.  Birth 25 

(c)  Parts  of  the  Body 25 

2.  Food 25 

(d)  Subjective  Life 25 

(e)  War 25 

IV.  Metaphors  in  the  Speeches  of  Bildad 25 

A.  Nature 25 

(a)   Day  and  Night,  Shadow,  Wind       ....  25 

(6)   Aspects  of  the  Earth 25 

(c)  Vegetable  Kingdom           ......  25 

(d)  Animal  Kingdom 25 

B.  Man  and  Human  Life        .......  26" 

(a)   Trades 26 

(&)   Domestic  Life 26 

(c)  Death  and  the  Grave 2ft 

(d)  Miscellaneous            .......  26 

V.  Metaphors  in  the  Speeches  of  Zophar 26 

A.  Nature 26 

(a)   Aspects  of  the  Sky 26 

Day  and  Night 26 

(fc)  Aspects  of  Water 26 

(c)  The  Earth 26 

The  Elements 2T 

(d)  The  Animal  Kingdom ZT 

B.  Man  and  Human  Life 27* 

(a)   Domestic  Life 27" 

(6)   Coarse  and  Repulsive  Metaphors     ....  2T 

(c)  Food 27 

(d)  Subjective  Life 27 

Dreams      .........  27 

(e)  War 27 

VI.  Metaphors  in  the  Speeches  of  Elihu 27 

A.  Nature 27 

(a)  Aspects  of  the  Sky 27 

Storm 27 

(6)  The  Earth 28 

B.  Man  and  Human  Life 28 

(a)   Domestic  Life 2;8 

(6)    Food 28 

(c)   Quoted  from  Job 29 

VII.  Metaphors  in  the  Jehovah  Speeches 29 

A.  Nature                                 29 


VI  CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

(a)  Aspects  of  the  Sky 29 

1.  The  Stars 29 

2.  Day  and  Night 29 

3.  Storm             29 

(6)  Aspects  of  Water 29 

(c)  Aspects  of  the  Earth 29 

1.  Earth            29 

2.  Minerals,  Dust 30 

(d)  Animal  Kingdom 30 

B.  Man  and  Human  Life 30 

(a)   Agriculture 30 

(6)  Trades 30 

(c)  Domestic  Life 30 

(d)  War 30 

VIII.  Metaphors  in  the  Disputed  Portions          ....  31 

1.  Metaphors  in  the  Speeches  of  Elihu         ....  31 

2.  Metaphors  in  the  Mining  Lyric         .....  31 

3.  Behemoth             31 

4.  Leviathan 31 

IX.  Metaphors  in  Portions  of  the  Third  Cycle     ....  32 

1.  Metaphors  in  Chapter  24:  18-21 32 

2.  Metaphors  in  Chapter  27:  8-23 32 

3.  Metaphors  in  Chapter  25 33 

PAST  III.    INDUCTIONS  FROM  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MATERIAL  IN  PAST  II. 

1.  What  the  Metaphors  Reveal  as  to  Oriental  Trope  in  General 

(a)   Abundance       . 35 

(&)   Relation  to  Abstract  Thinking 36 

(c)  Mnemonic  Value      . 37 

2.  Geographical  Indications 37 

3.  Indication  of  Date    .........  41 

Solomon           .                 42 

Early  Prophets 43 

Jeremiah 45 

Deuteronomy 47 

Isaiah 47 

4.  Light  that  the  Metaphors  Throw  upon  the  Unity  of  the  Book 

Theories 50 

Behemoth  and  Leviathan       .......  51 

Elihu 52 

Chapter  28 53 

Unifying  Characteristics         .......  53 

5.  Metaphors  of  the  Several  Speakers 54 

Author's  Interest  in  Character 54 

Eliphaz            55 

Bildad 56 


CONTENTS. 


Vll 


Zophar 

Job 

Jehovah  

The  Third  Cycle 

Limitations  in  Interpretation  of  the  Figurative  Expressions 

(a)   Specific  Literary  Force 

(6)   Philosophic  Content 


PAGE. 
58 
59 
67 
70 

74 
75 


i 


AN  INDUCTIVE  STUDY 

OF  THE 

METAPHORICAL  LANGUAGE  IN  JOB. 


Stedman  calls  the  book  of  Job  "the  sublimest  poem  of 
antiquity,  with  no  peak  near  it,"  and  declares  that  it  is  both 
epic  and  dramatic,  embodying  the  whole  wisdom  of  the  patri- 
archal race.1  "The  narrative  prelude  to  Job,"  he  goes  on  to 
say,  "has  the  direct  epic  simplicity — a  Cyclopean  porch  to 
the  temple,  but  within  are  Heaven,  the  angels,  the  plumed 
Lord  of  Evil,  before  the  throne  of  a  judicial  God.  The 
personages  of  the  dialogue  beyond  are  firmly  distinguished: 
Eliphaz,  Bildad,  Zophar,  Elihu  and  the  smitten  protagonist 
himself,  majestic  in  ashes  and  desolation.  Each  outvies  the 
other  in  grandeur  of  language,  imagination,  worship.  Can 
there  be  a  height  beyond  these  lofty  utterances?  Yes:  only 
in  this  poem  God  answered  out  of  the  whirlwind,  His  voice 
made  audible,  as  if  an  added  range  of  hearing  for  a  space 
enabled  us  to  comprehend  the  reverberations  of  a  super-human 
tone."  Moulton  voices  his  appreciation  of  the  poem  as  fol- 
lows: "If  a  jury  of  persons  well  instructed  in  literature,  were 
impanelled  to  pronounce  upon  the  question  'what  is  the 
greatest  poem  in  the  world's  great  literature/  while  on  such  a 
question  unanimity  would  be  impossible,  yet  I  believe  a  large 
majority  would  give  their  verdict  in  favor  of  the  book  of  Job."2 
Delitzsch  names  it  the  "  Melchizedek  among  the  Old  Testament 
books,"  and  maintains  that  it  is  "  a  masterpiece  of  systematic 
creative  art."  Carlyle  thinks  "There  is  nothing  written  with 
pen,  in  the  Bible  or  out  of  it,  of  equal  literary  merit." 

1 "  The  Nature  of  Poetry,"  p.  86. 
2  Modern  Reader's  Bible,  introduction,  p.  v. 

1 


2  METAPHORS    IN   BOOK   OF    JOB. 

What  in  the  poem  entitles  it  to  so  great  praise  from  such  high 
sources?  It  exercises  a  spell  that  defies  complete  analysis,  is 
more  potent  than  the  sum  of  all  the  reasons  ascribed.  All  the 
authorities  cited  agree  that  it  is  great,  but  when  they  analyze  its 
greatness,  suggest  varying  causes:  one  personifying  it  as  that 
"priest  of  God"  whom  the  ancient  faith  invested  with  super- 
stitious awe:  another  emphasizing  its  sublimity,  its  patriarchal 
wisdom,  its  epic  and  dramatic  form:  a  third  marvelling  at  its 
systematic  creative  art.  For  three  reasons  then  Job  deserves  a  * 
detailed  study:  for  the  theme  which  makes  its  appeal  to  all 
humanity,  and  which  in  its  handling  does  command  an  awe 
almost  superstitious ;  for  the  literary  types  it  embodies ;  and  for 
the  rhetorical  details  it  presents.  With  two  of  these  interests 
we  shall  concern  ourselves  only  in  passing ; — a  study  of  the  third 
is  to  be  the  immediate  purpose  of  this  paper. 

In  its  theme  the  book  of  Job  deals  with  the  most  universal  of 
all  topics;  the  Mystery  of  Suffering,  the  Problem  of  Pain  / 
(3:  20).  Pain  makes  the  most  thoughtless  consider  the  mean- 
ing of  life.  A  Science  tries  to  overcome  its  ravages;  the  signifi- 
cance of  the  term  is  fundamental  to  philosophy ;  and  the  greater 
half  of  poetry  has  to  do  with  the  tragedy  of  life.  Here  we  have 
then  a  spiritual  or  abstract  theme,  ramifying  into  every  realm 
of  life,  and  forcing  every  individual  somehow  or  other  to  recog- 
nize its  reality.  The  truth  is  a  unity,  its  interest  is  universal ; 
but  its  application  must  be  made  personal  and  individual.  The 
author's  problem  was,  therefore,  to  express  this  fundamental 
truth  in  the  terms  of  the  concrete.  He  could  not  present  his 
thoughts  in  abstractions.  If  he  had,  the  Hebrew  people  who 
were  his  audience,  would  not  have  understood  him.  He  was 
obliged  to  use  concrete  images  to  create  in  their  minds  the  feel- 
ings he  wished  to  produce,  the  convictions  he  hoped  to  establish. 
In  this  characteristic  of  the  ancient  Hebrew  mind,  in  its  need 
of  the  concrete  appeal,  we  find  a  reason  for  the  rhetorical  detail 
in  the  book  of  Job.  Even  a  theme  so  vital  as  the  suffering  they 
underwent,  endured  or  resente'd,  to  be  made  clear  to  them  must 
be  discussed  in  the  terms  of  the  concrete  in  simile  or  in  meta- 


METAPHORS   IN   BOOK   OF   JOB.  3 

phor.  It  cannot  but  be  of  interest  therefore  in  connection  with 
the  theme  to  make  a  study  of  the  sources  from  which  were  drawn 
the  similes  and  metaphors  by  which  the  author  endeavored  to 
elucidate  his  thought. 

Since  the  author  of  Job  found  rhetorical  detail  so  necessary  to 

the  development  of  his  theme,  it  is  probable  that 
Dramatic  ,  f 

Element  iound  it  equally  necessary  to  the  development 

of  the  literary  form  he  employed,  for  the  type  of 
any  work  is  the  outgrowth  of  its  author's  purpose.  Genung 
calls  Job  "  the  epic  of  the  inner  life,"1  but  he  also  admits  that 
it  is  in  part  dramatic.2 

In  an  epic  the  poet  himself  speaks,  the  action  is  by-gone,  the 
scene  is  described,  the  persons  are  spoken  of  in  the  third  person ; 
there  are  only  two  concerned  in  it,  the  poet  and  the  reader.  In 
Job  not  the  poet,  but  Job  himself  speaks;  so  do  his  friends.. 
The  action  is  present;  each  character  comes  in  turn  into  the  light) 
to  have  his  say.  The  scene  is  not  described,  but  indicated  as  in 
a  play.  These  considerations  have  led  all  critics  of  the  book  of/ 
Job  to  admit  its  dramatic  character.  Few,  however,  go  so  far 
as  to  classify  it  as  a  drama  in  the  technical  sense,  for  the  He- 
brews had  no  theatre,  and  its  author  probably  had  no  thought 
of  its  ever  being  presented  on  the  stage.  The  explanation  of 
this  difficulty  in  classification  and  of  the  predominance  of  the 
dramatic  element  of  the  work,  lies  in  the  purpose  and  method  of 
the  author.  The  proverbs  had  hardened  into  a  creed.  The 
schools  of  Teman  had  become  the  center  of  orthodoxy.  Their 
teaching  was :  The  righteous  always  prosper ;  the  wicked  always 
suffer.  The  purpose  of  the  author  of  the  book  of  Job  was  to 
show  the  error  of  this  doctrine.  He  admits  the  truth  in  the 
Teman  philosophy,  but  says,  while  your  observations  have  been 
wide,  they  have  not  been  wide  enough.  True,  evil  does  tend  to  , 
misery,  and  righteousness  lead  to  prosperity ;  but  the  upright  some- 
times suffer  and  often  through  no  fault  of  their  own.  Let  us 
therefore  consider  every  fact,  for  "  wisdom  is  justified  of  all  her 

1 "  The  Epic  of  the  Inner  Life,"  p.  24. 
2M,  p.  21. 


4  METAPHORS    IN   BOOK   OF    JOB. 

children."  He  had  ideas  of  philosophy  to  work  out,  and  a  sys- 
tem of  ethics  to  propound.  His  method  was  to  personify  and 
dramatize.  The  Hebrew  sage  did  not  go  about  his  task  as  a 
modern  metaphysician  or  as  a  Greek  philosopher  would  have 
done, — did  not  write  an  essay,  or  reason  from  abstract  prin- 
ciples. Not  with  the  method  of  logic  or  ethics  or  science  did  he 
set  forth  his  truth.  On  the  contrary  he  individualized  his  con- 
ceptions, he  dramatized  his  philosophy,  striking  out  in  univer- 
salized poetic  form,  his  truth,  discussing  a  profound  problem  of 
human  life,  by  means  of  an  interplay  of  thought,  not  abstract 
and  intellectual,  but  vital  and  dramatic.  The  interest  is  not 
in  the  theory  which  it  propounds,  but  in  the  application  of  a 
popular  theory  to  human  experience  in  time  of  trial.  The 
author's  philosophy  then  is  dramatized,  and  expressed  in  the 
person  of  Job  undergoing  certain  spiritual  experiences.  Job  is 
a  spiritual  Laocoon,  wrestling  with  the  twin  serpents  of  doubt 
and  despair.  How  was  the  author  to  make  these  experiences 
vivid?  When  Coleridge  wanted  to  reproduce  in  the  mind  of 
his  readers  the  suffering  of  the  human  heart,  and  to  intensify 
that  suffering,  he  introduced  the  element  of  the  supernatural. 
His  recitation  of  the  horrors  of  the  deep,  serves  very  well  to 
recreate  the  experiences  of  the  heart  stricken  with  a  sense  of 
wickedness ;  and  variations  of  the  images  take  the  reader  through 
the  feeling  of  repentance  and  forgiveness.  When  the  author  of 
the  book  of  Job  wished  to  accomplish  the  same  result,  this  office 
of  the  supernatural  in  literature  was  not  open  to  him.  God  was 
to  be  the  chief  factor  in  the  opposing  force  in  Job's  drama,  and 
therefore  the  element  of  the  supernatural  must  be  reserved  for 
intimations  of  Deity,  and  other  means  must  be  taken  to  present 
Job's  mental  condition.  The  supernatural  was  to  serve  other 
purposes  than  to*  emphasize  human  states  of  mind. 

What  Coleridge  expresses  for  the  Ancient  Mariner  by  means 
of  the  supernatural,  the  author  of  the  book  of  Job  expresses  for 
his  hero  by  the  use  of  simile  and  metaphor.  Indeed,  he  uses 
the  simile  and  metaphor  also  to  create  in  the  thought  of  the 
hearer  his  ideas  of  God  and  providence.  For  his  dramatized 


METAPHORS    IN   BOOK   OF    JOB.  5 

philosophy  he  had  an  elastic  medium,  since  Hebrew  poetry, 
whietf  was  built  not  only  on  metre  but  also  on  a  system  of  paral- 
lelism,— a  function  of  prose — combined  the  measured  beauties 
of  verse,  with  the  freedom  of  prose. 

In  structure  the  book  of  Job  is  carefully  elaborated.  It  is  a 
c  .  poem,  with  a  prose  prologue  and  a  prose  epilogue. 

It  tells  the  story  of  a  man  eminently  good,  pros- 
perous and  happy,  who,  at  the  instance  of  Satan,  though  himself 
perceiving  therein  only- God's  vengeful  stroke,  is  suddenly  de- 
prived of  everything  (except  his  wife)  ;  property,  children, 
health,  the  world's  esteem ;  who,  accused  and  deserted  by  rela- 
tives, and  friends,  nevertheless  sturdily  refuses  to  own  that  his 
affliction  is  due  to  sin,  or  that  his  punishment  is  just ;  and  who 
after  many  pains  of  doubt  and  conquests  of  faith,  is  commended 
by  Jehovah  and  restored  to  twice  his  former  property.  The 
major  portion  of  the  work  consists  of  discussion  and  argument : 
Job  and  his  friends  affirming  and  answering,  reproving  and  re- 
criminating, in  three  elaborate  cycles  of  discourses ;  Elihu  com- 
ing in,  full  of  words  after  his  friends  are  silenced  and  Jehovah 
pronouncing  the  final  answer  out  of  the  whirlwind. 

There  is  an  invariable  sequence  in  which  the  speakers  par- 
ticipate in  the  cycles:  First  Job  speaks;  then  Eliphaz  answers 
him.  Job  replies  and  Bildad  answers.  Job  speaks  again  and 
Zophar  answers;  the  same  order  being  observed  in  each  of  the 
three  cycles  of  discourses.  Job  then  utters  his  oath  of  clearing, 
and  Elihu  breaks  in.  His  remarks  are  attended,  near  the  close, 
with  the  approach  of  a  storm:  thunder,  lightning  and  a  whirl- 
wind. Jehovah  speaks  from  the  whirlwind,  and  the  drama  is 
concluded. 

All  this  shows  careful  elaboration  and  suggests  that  the  source 
of  the  similes  and  metaphors  employed  must  be  significant  and 
worthy  of  consideration ;  for  it  is  probable  that  an  author  who 
realized  the  necessity  both  for  concrete  appeal  to  his  audience, 
and  for  elaborate  details,  would  be  painstaking  in  regard  to  the 
sources  from  which  he  drew  the  metaphors  that  were  to  impress 
his  theories. 


6  METAPHORS    IN    BOOK   OF    JOB. 

Near  the  close  of  the  third  cycle  there  is  a  slight  irregularity : 
Zophar's  last  speech  is  omitted  in  the  present  Hebrew  arrange- 
ment, and  a  sonnet  of  ^wonderful  lyric  beauty  is  put  into  the 
mouth  of  Job.  It  may  be  that  some  light  will  be  thrown  upon 
the  proper  arrangement  of  this  portion  of  the  book,  by  a  study 
of  the  sources  from  which  the  different  speakers  draw  their 
metaphors. 

In  addition  to  these  considerations,  there  is  another  fact  in 
_  regard  to  the  structure  of  the  book  of  Job,  which 

Allotment.  would  suggest  a  special  study  of  any  detail  in  the 
work  and  especially  therefore  of  the  figurative 
language.  The  fact  referred  to,  is  the  apparently  measured 
space  allotted  to  each  speaker  and  division  of  the  book.  Not 
only  does  each  speaker  take  his  turn  regularly  in  the  cycles,  but 
there  seems  to  be  also  a  fixed  number  of  words  assigned  to  him, 
in  which  he  is  to  express  his  thought;  and  each  division  seems 
to  bear  a  definite  relation  in  length  to  the  other  portions. 

That  this  relation  of  space  allotment  actually  exists  may  be 
adequately  enough  suggested  by  calling  attention  to  the  fact  that 
in  the  Hebrew  text,  as  it  stands  to-day,  the  prose  prologue  con- 
tains about  twice  as  many  words  as  the  prose  epilogue.  The 
Jehovah  speeches  are  of  equal  length  with  the  speeches  of  Elihu ; 
and  taken  together  their  speeches  are  one-third  as  long  as  the 
speeches  of  Job  and  the  three  friends  in  the  cycles.  Job's  first 
speech  contains  as  many  words  as  the  epilogue;  and  Eliphaz's 
reply  contains  the  same  number  of  words  as  the  prologue,  and  is 
twice  the  length  of  Job's  curse.  Job's  second  speech  is  three 
times  the  length  of  Bildad's  reply;  and  Job's  third  speech  is 
three  times  as  long  as  Zophar's  reply;  Bildad's  and  Zophar's 
speeches  being  of  equal  length,  as  are  also  Job's  second  and 
third  speeches. 

It  is  not  worth  while  to  go  into  this  sort  of  thing  very  ex- 
tensively, and  there  is  very  little  that  can  be  gotten  out  of  a 
work  of  literature  by  the  foot  rule.  Still,  if  the  author  gave 
enough  attention  to  the  details  of  his  work  to  portion  out  even 
the  number  of  words  in  the  different  divisions,  it  cannot  be  out 


METAPHORS   IN   BOOK   OF    JOB.  7 

of  place  to  point  out  that  fact,  and  to  conclude  that  if  so  external 
a  thing  was  considered  other  details  including  similes  and  meta- 
phors were  equally  subjects  of  special  attention. 

Not  only  do  these  facts  in  the  literature  of  the  Book  of  Job 
suggest  a  study  of  the  similes  and  metaphors,  but 
.  .  such  a  study  is  also  suggested  by  a  characteristic 

To  Detail  °^  ^e  oriental  mind  which  manifests  itself  in 

every  department  of  their  life.  In  government, 
in  manners,  in  customs,  and  in  art,  the  oriental  mind  exhibits  a 
peculiar  attention  to  detail.  The  government  of  an  Eastern 
kingdom  is  as  different  as  may  be  from  our  Western  civiliza- 
tion. The  palace,  the  retinue,  the  decorations,  the  costumes,  the 
gardens  of  an  oriental  city  are  all  strange  and  marvelous  to  the 
Western  visitor.  Among  the  other  causes  which  produce  this 
striking  effect,  is  the  characteristic  here  referred  to:  attention 
to  detail.  It  manifests  itself  in  the  institutions  of  China,  of 
India  and  of  Turkey  to-day.  But  the  oriental  mind  is  con- 
servative, and  in  the  beginnings  of  one  such  nation,  may  be 
studied  in  microcosm,  the  development  of  later  centuries.  The 
oriental  loves  detail  to-day — he  loved  it  in  the  day  of  the  patri- 
archs. The  directions  found  in  the  Pentateuch  for  the  govern- 
ment of  the  children  of  Israel,  give  the  secret  of  the  attention 
to  detail  manifested  by  oriental  governments  to-day. 

In  Exodus  18 :  13-26  is  set  forth  the  method  by  which  He- 
brew institutions  were  developed.  The  people  stood  before 
Moses,  the  thing  was  too  heavy  for  him  alone ;  so  he  provided  out 
of  all  the  people,  able  men  to  be  rulers  of  thousands,  and  hun- 
dreds, and  fifties  and  tens.  He  then  gave  most  minute  direc- 
tions for  the  guidance  of  these  men,  as  recorded  in  the  following 
chapters.  In  Exodus  25  we  have  the  detailed  directions  for 
the  building  of  the  tabernacle  and  for  its  furnishing.  Just  how 
minute  these  details  are  may  be  gathered  from  an  examination  of 
the  directions  for  making  the  candlestick : 

"  and  thou  shalt  make  a  candlestick  of  pure  gold :  of  beaten  work  shall  the 
candlestick  be  made :  his  shaft,  and  his  branches,  his  bowls,  his  knops,  and 
his  flowers,  shall  be  of  the  same.  And  six  branches  shall  come  out  of  the 


8  METAPHORS    IN    BOOK   OF    JOB. 

sides  of  it;  three  branches  of  the  candlestick  out  of  the  one  side,  and  three 
branches  of  the  candlestick  out  of  the  other  side:  three  bowls  made  like 
unto  almonds,  with  a  knop  and  a  flower  in  one  branch;  and  three  bowls 
made  like  almonds  in  the  other  branch,  with  a  knop  and  a  flower :  so  in  the 
six  branches  that  come  out  of  the  candlestick.  And  in  the  candlestick 
shall  be  four  bowls  made  like  unto  almonds,  with  their  knops  and  their 
flowers.  And  there  shall  be  a  knop  under  two  branches  of  the  same,  and  a  knop 
under  two  branches  of  the  same,  and  a  knop  under  two  branches  of  the  same, 
according  to  the  six  branches  that  proceed  out  of  the  candlestick.  Their 
knops  and  branches  shall  be  of  the  same :  all  of  it  shall  be  one  beaten  work 
of  pure  gold.  And  thou  shalt  make  the  seven  lamps  thereof;  and  they 
shall  cause  to  ascend  the  lamps  thereof  that  they  may  give  light  over 
against  it.  And  the  tongs  thereof  and  the  snuff-dishes  therof  shall  be  of 
pure  gold.  Of  a  talent  of  pure  gold  shall  he  make  it  with  all  these 
vessels.  And  look  that  thou  make  them  after  their  pattern."  (25 :  31-40.) 

The  directions  for  the  robes  of  the  priests  and  for  the  ephod 
are  given  in  the  same  characteristic  way.  Here  we  have  then  at 
the  very  beginning  of  an  oriental  race,  the  same  attention  to 
detail  which  characterizes  the  government  and  institutions  of 
Eastern  peoples  to-day. 

In  manners  and  customs  they  show  the  same  regard  for 
minutiae.  "  Here  a  little,  there  a  little ;  line  upon  line,  precept 
upon  precept."  The  directions  for  the  different  kinds  of  sacri- 
fices are  given  with  this  same  unwearying  attention  to  detail, 
in  the  opening  chapters  of  Leviticus.  Here  we  find  also  the 
details  in  regard  to  what  is  clean  and  what  is  unclean ;  the  de- 
tailed laws  concerning  leprosy,  the  purification  of  women  and 
so  on,  and  so  on.  The  same  characteristic  is  manifest  in  regard 
to  the  institution  and  observance  of  the  Sabbath  (Ex.  16 :  20- 
35,  etc.).  The  scrupulous  adherence  to  detail  which  may  be 
seen  in  the  celebration  of  any  feast,  or  ceremony,  or  business 
venture,  in  our  city  to-day  on  the  part  of  these  people,  may  be 
traced  back  to  the  law  as  laid  down  centuries  ago  in  the  Penta- 
teuch or  the  Talmud.  It  is  not  a  small  matter,  this  attention 
to  detail  on  the  Jew's  part,  for  it  manifests  itself  in  all  relations 
in  life  and  accounts  for  much  in  the  history  of  his  people. 

Not  only  has  this  characteristic  affected  the  history,  but  it  has 
manifested  itself  in  the  art  and  determined  the  literature  of  the 
Orient  It  is  seen  in  the  Turkish  rugs  and  the  Syrian  laces. 


METAPHORS   IN    BOOK   OF    JOB.  9 

Tennyson  recognizes  it  in  his  phrase,  "  Laborious  Orient  ivory, 
sphere  in  sphere."  In  this  connection  it  is  interesting  to  read 
the  account  of  the  early  art  workers  given  in  Exodus.1  Here 
we  find  that  "  Bezaleel,  the  son  of  Uri,  the  son  of  Hur,"  had 
wisdom  and  understanding  and  knowledge  "to  devise  curious 
works,  to  work  in  gold  and  in  silver  and  in  brass,  and  in  the 
cutting  of  stones,  to  set  them  and  in  carving  of  wood"  and  to 
make  any  manner  of  cunning  work.  Not  only  does  this  passage 
illustrate  the  Oriental  tendency  to  detail,  but  further  on2  we 
read  that  Ahobab  had  "  wisdom  of  heart  to  work  all  manner  of 
work  of  the  engraver,  and  of  the  cunning  workman,  and  of  the 
embroiderer  in  blue,  and  in  purple,  and  in  scarlet,  and  in  fine 
linen,  and  of  the  weaver." 

The  word  used  here  for  curious  and  cunning  is  derived  from 
the  root  l&n>  which  means  to  mingle,  to  compute,  to  reckon ;  to 
think,  to  meditate,  to  consider.  The  Hebrew  word,  allied  as  it 
is  to  the  Arabic,  the  Syriac  and  the  Ethiopic,  explains  one  pecu- 
liarity of  the  rugs,  laces,  carvings  so  highly  prized  to-day : — the 
minutest  detail  is  reckoned,  thought  out,  meditated  upon, — 
considered. 

Their  literature  was  no  less  influenced  by  this  tendency  to 
detail,  than  their  art.  Minute  rules  were  set  for  the  guidance 
of  their  scribes ;  who  were  exhorted  to  wipe  their  pens  after  the 
formation  of  each  letter,  to  count  the  number  of  words  every  so 
often,  and  to  know  the  central  word  in  the  writing.  So  un- 
questioned is  the  significance  of  detail  in  Hebrew  literature, 
that  Moulton  claims3  that  Job  may  be  analyzed  by  a  study  of 
the  variations  of  metre,  for  in  this  work  a  change  in  the  poetic 
structure  occurs  with  every  change  in  the  thought.  Even  num- 
ber is  to  them  significant,  special  prominence  being  given  to 
3,  5,  7,  9  and  12.  For  instance,  the  numbers  of  animals  pos- 
sessed by  Job  are  7,  3,  5,  and  5  thousand  respectively.4  He 

1  Ex.  35 :  30-35. 

2  Ex.  35 :  35. 

3  Modern  Reader's  Bible,  notes,  p.  134. 
'Ch.  1:  3. 


10  METAPHORS    IN    BOOK   OF   JOB. 

had  seven  sons  and  three  daughters;  there  are  three  friends, 
three  cycles  of  speeches;  twelve  animals  are  alluded  to  in  the 
Jehovah  speeches.  A  number  sonnet  based  on  the  number  seven 
is  introduced  in  Eliphaz's  first  speech.1 

The  fact  that  this  regard  for  detail  is  a  basic  element  in  the 
oriental  mind,  establishes  the  importance  of  the  metaphors  in 
the  book  of  Job.  But  it  is  difficult,  in  making  an  analytic  study 
of  a  detail  in  a  work  of  epic  importance,  to  avoid  a  merely 
academic  performance.  It  may  be  possible,  however,  so  to  rise 
above  the  letter  as  not  to  lose  sight  of  the  living  spirit  of  the 
work,  and  eve'n  to  increase  appreciation  of  the  author's  power. 
Every  speech  is  a  work  of  art  in  itself,  and  much  of  the  joy 
possible  to  the  reader  of  Job  is  lost,  unless  he  realizes  the  joy 
in  rhetoric  for  its  own  sake  which  was  experienced  by  the  people 
for  whom  the  work  was  composed,  and  which  may  be  revived  for 
the  people  of  to-day  by  laying  just  such  emphasis  on  details,  as 
is  here  proposed. 

All  other  matters:  versification,  parallelism,  other  figures  of 
speech,  number  symbols,  the  progress  of  thought,  development  of 
character,  and  solutions  of  the  problem,  are  left  out.  The  pur- 
pose of  this  essay  then,  is  to  consider  only  the  similes  and  meta- 
phors. By  metaphor  (or  by  simile, — often  included  in  the 
term)  is  meant  the  trope  in  its  technical  sense,  as  opposed  to  a 
figure  of  speech  (Gummere).  The  trope  does  not  affect  the 
grammar,  but  is  a  change  of  name  based  on  a  comparison  be- 
tween two  dissimilar  things  which  have  some  element  in  com- 
mon. It  is  an  appeal  to  the  imagination  whereby  some  rela- 
tively abstract  truth  is  illustrated  by  reference  to  some  concrete 
thing. 2 

In  Part  II.  these  figures  have  been  tabulated,  classified  with 
reference  to  the  sources  from  which  they  are  drawn.  This 
classification  has  seemed  most  natural,  being  suggested  by  the 
character  of  the  expressions  themselves.  The  tabulation  is 
merely  a  means  to  an  end,  and  must  not  be  regarded  of  im- 

iCh.  5:  19. 

2  Buck,  metaphor. 


METAPHORS    IN   BOOK   OF    JOB.'  11 

portance  in  itself,  but  of  worth  only  for  purposes  of  comparison 
and  generalization.  The  sources  of  an  author's  similitude  are 
often  peculiarly  interesting  as  affording  a  means  of  measuring 
the  circumferences  of  his  knowledge ;  "  Images  are  either  grand 
in  themselves  or  for  the  thought  and  feeling  that  accompany 
them."2  Perhaps  a  study  of  the  tables  will  throw  some  light 
on  the  integrity  of  the  hook,  the  time  and  place  of  its  composi- 
tion, the  historic  environment  and  the  literary  interpretation. 

i  Minto,  "  Manual  of  Prose  Literature,"  p.  13. 
8  Leigh  Hunt,  "  Imagination  and  Fancy,"  p.  198. 


PAET    II.1 

I.    METAPHORS    IN  THE    PROSE    PORTIONS. 

(a)   Familiar  and  Colloquial  Images: 

Skin  for  skin,  yea  all  that  a  man  hath  will  he  give  for  his  life.     2 :  14. 
Naked  came  I  out  of  my  mother's  womb,  and  naked  shall  I  return 
thither:  Jehovah  gave,  and  Jehovah  hath  taken  away;  blessed  be  the 
name  of  Jehovah.      1:  21. 
(&)   War: 

And  Jehovah  turned  the  captivity  of  Job.     42:  10. 

II.    METAPHORES    IN    THE  SPEECHES    OF    JOB. 

A.  NATUBE. 

(a)  Aspects  of  the  sky,  the  elements,  day  and  night,  eclipse: 

1.  Clouds: 

As  a  cloud  is  consumed  and  vanishes  away.     7 :  9. 

My  warfare  is  passed  away  as  a  cloud.     30:  15. 

Life  flees  as  a  shadow.     14 :  2. 

Clouds  dwell  upon  the  day  in  which  he  was  born.     3:  5. 

He  spreads  a  cloud  upon  the  face  of  his  throne.     26 :  9. 

He  bindeth  up  the  waters  in  his  thick  clouds,  and  the  cloud  is 

not  rent  under  it.     26:  8. 
All  my  members  are  as  a  shadow.      17:  7. 

2.  The  Heavens : 

The  pillars  of  heaven  tremble.      26:   11. 

He  alone  stretcheth  out  the  heavens.     9:  8. 

By  his  spirit  the  heavens  are  garnished.     26:  13. 

3.  Stars: 

God  sealeth  up  the  stars.     9:17. 

Let  the  stars  of  the  twilight  thereof  be  dark.     3 :  9. 

He  maketh  the  Bear,  Orion  and  the  Pleiades.     9:  9. 

4.  Day  and  night: 

Let  it  not  behold  the  eyelids  of  the  morning.     3:  9. 

If  I  beheld  the  sun  when  it  shined,  and  the  moon  walking  in 

darkness.     31:  26. 

God  commandeth  the  sun,  and  it  riseth  not.     9:  7. 
Let  the  day  perish.      3:  3. 
Let  thick  darkness  seize  that  night.      3:  16. 
Sheol  is  the  land,  dark  as  midnight,  and  where  the  light  is  as 

midnight.     24:  15. 

The  eye  of  the  adulterer  waiteth  for  the  twilight.     24 :  15. 
Quotations  are  from  the  American  Revised  Translation. 

12 


METAPHORS    IN   BOOK   OF    JOB.  13 

In  the  dark  they  dig  through  houses,  they  shut  themselves  up  in 

the  daytime,  they  know  not  the  light.     24:  16. 
The  morning  is  to  all  of  them,  as  thick  darkness.     24:   17. 
Nations  grope  in  darkness  without  light.      12:  25. 

5.  Seasons: 

As  I  was  in  the  days  of  my  autumn.     29 :  4. 

6.  Eclipse: 

All  that  maketh  black  the  day.     3 :  5.1 

Let  the  cursers  of  the  day  curse  it,  who  are  skillful  to  rouse  up 
leviathan.     3:  8. 

7.  Storm: 

God  breaks  me  with  a  tempest.     9:  17. 

A  tempest  stealeth  the  wicked  man  away  in  the  night.      26:   14. 

When  he  made  a  decree  for  the  rain,  and  a  way  for  the  lightning 

of  the  thunder.     28:  26. 

But  the  thunder  of  his  power  who  can  understand.      26:   14. 
They  waited  for  me  as  the  rain.     29 :  23. 
Showers  of  the  mountain.      24:  7. 
.    Thou  lifteth  me  up  to  the  wind,  thou  causest  me  to  ride  upon  it; 

and  thou  dissolvest  me  in  the  storm.     30:  22. 

8.  Wind: 

Remember  that  my  life  is  a  breath.     7:7. 

They  chase  mine  honor  as  the  wind.     30 :  15. 

The  east  wind  carrieth  him  away.     27:  21. 

When  he  maketh  a  weight  for  the  wind.     28 :  25. 

Seeing  that  the  speeches  of  one  that  is  desperate  are  as  wind. 

6:  26. 
(6)  Aspects  of  water. 

1.  Sea: 

My  calamities  are  heavier  than  the  sands  of  the  sea.     6:3. 
Am  I  a  sea  or  a  sea  monster  ?     7 :  12. 
God  treads  upon  the  waves  of  the  sea.     9 :  8. 
He  stirreth  up  the  sea  with  his  power.     26:  12. 
Man  dieth  and  is  laid  low,  as  the  waters  fail  from  the  sea.    14:  11. 
The  deep  saith  it  (wisdom)  is  not  in  me;  and  the  sea  saith  it  is 
not  with  me.     28:   14. 

2.  Brooks: 

My  brethren  have  dealt  deceitfully  as  a  brook. 

As  the  channel  of  brooks  that  pass  away. 

Which  are  black  by  reason  of  ice. 

Wherein  the  snow  hideth  itself. 

What  time  they  wax  warm,  they  vanish. 

When  it  is  hot  they  are  consumed  out  of  their  place. 

The  caravans  that  travel  by  the  way  of  them  turn  aside. 

They  go  into  the  waste  and  perish. 

1Gesenius,  p.  473.      D 


14  METAPHORS   IN   BOOK   OF   JOB. 

The  caravans  of  Tema  looked. 

The  companies  of  Sheba  waited  for  them. 

They  were  put  to  shame  because  they  had  hoped;   they  came 

hither  and  were  confounded. 
For  now  ye  are  it  to  me.     6:  15-26. 
He  bindeth  the  streams  that  they  trickle  not.     28:  11. 
And  the  river  wasteth  and  drieth  up,  so  man  lieth  down  and 

riseth  not.      14:   11. 
3.  Water: 

My  groanings  are  poured  like  water.     3:  24. 

My  root  is  spread  out  to  the  water,  and  the  dew  lieth  all  night 

upon  my  branch.     29 :  19. 
As  a  wide  breaking  in  of  waters  they  come : 
In  the  midst  of  ruin  they  roll  themselves  upon  me.     30 :  14. 
The  waters  wear  the  stones;  the  overflowing  thereof  wash  away 

the  dust  of  the  earth;  so  thou  destroyest  the  hope  of  a  man. 

14:   19. 
God  withholdeth  the  waters,  and  they  dry  up;  again  he  sendeth 

them  out  and  they  overrun  the  earth.      12 :  15. 
Yea,  he  meteth  out  the  waters  by  measure.     28:  25. 
If  I  wash  myself  in  snow  water.     9 :  30. 
(c)  Aspects  of  the  earth,  inorganic  nature,  minerals. 

1.  Earth: 

God  makes  the  pillars  of  the  earth  tremble.     9 :  6. 

The  earth  is  given  into  the  hands  of  the  wicked.      9:   24. 

O  earth,  cover  not  thou  my  blood.      16:  18. 

The  inundations  wash  away  the  dust  of  the  earth,  so  God  de- 
stroys the  hope  of  man.  14:  19. 

The  clods  of  the  valley  are  sweet  to  him.     21 :  33. 

He  taketh  away  understanding  from  the  chiefs  of  the  people  of 
the  earth,  and  causes  them  to  wander  in  the  wilderness  where 
there  is  no  way.  12:  24. 

So  that  they  dwell  in  frightful  valleys,  in  holes  of  the  earth  and 
of  the  rocks.  30:  6. 

2.  Mountains: 

The  mountain  falling  cometh  to  naught;  and  the  rock  is  removed 

out  of  its  place  so  thou  destroyest  the  hope  of  man.      14:  18. 
God  removeth  mountains  and  they  know  it  not,  when  he  over- 

turneth  them  in  his  anger.      9 :   5. 
They  are  wet  with  the  showers  of  the  mountains,  and  embrace 

the  rock  for  want  of  shelter.      24:  8. 
He  putteth  forth  his  hand  upon  the  flinty  rock;  he  overturneth 

the  mountains  by  the  roots.     28:  9. 
He  cutteth  out  a  channel  among  the  rocks.     28:  10. 
The  rocks  poured  me  out  rivers  of  oil.     29:  7. 

3.  Minerals: 

Is  my  strength  the  strength  of  stones? 
Or  is  my  flesh  of  brass  ?     6 :  12. 


METAPHORS    IN   BOOK   OF    JOB.  15 

After  thou  hast  tried  me  I  shall  come  forth  as  gold.     23 :  10. 
Surely  there  is  a  mine  for  silver,  and  a  place  for  gold  which  they 

refine.     28:  1. 
Iron  is  taken  out  of  the  earth,  and  copper  is  molten  out  of  the 

stone.     28:  2. 
The  stones  thereof  are  the  places  of  sapphires,  and  it  hath  dust 

of  gold.     28:  6. 
It   (wisdom)    cannot  be  gotten  for  gold,  neither  shall  silver  be 

weighed  for  the  price  thereof.     28:  15. 
Gold  and  silver  cannot  equal  it,  neither  shall  it  be  exchanged  for 

vessels  of  fine  gold.      28:  17. 
It  cannot  be  valued  for  the  gold  of  Ophir,  with  the  precious  onyx, 

or  the  sapphire.     28:  16. 
No  mention  shall  be  made  of  coral  or  crystal:  yea  the  price  of 

wisdom  is  above  rubies.     28:  18. 
The  topaz  of  Ethiopia  shall  not  equal  it,  neither  shall  it  be  valued 

with  pure  gold.      28:   19. 
If  I  have  made  gold  my  hope,  and  have  said  unto  fine  gold  thou 

art  my  confidence.     31:  24. 
4.  Clay,  Dust,  Ashes : 

Thou  hast  fashioned  me  as  clay;  and  wilt  thou  bring  me  unto 

dust  again.      10:  9. 

My  flesh  is  clothed  with  worms  and  clods  of  dust.     7 :  5. 
Your  memorable  sayings  are  proverbs  of  ashes,  your  defences  are 

defences  of  clay.      13:  12. 

I  shall  multiply  my  days  as  the  sand.     29 :  18.1 
He  hath  cast  me  in  the  mire,  and  I  am  become  like  dust  and 

ashes.     30:  19. 

The  stones  of  obscurity  and  thick  darkness.     28 :  3. 
They  gnaw  the  dry  ground  in  the  gloom  of  wasteness  and  desola- 
tion.    30:  3. 

When  once  there  is  rest  in  the  dust.     17:  16. 
( d )   Vegetabl  e  Kingdom : 
1.  Tree: 

For  there  is  hope  for  a  tree, 

If  it  be  cut  down  that  it  will  sprout  again, 

And  that  the  tender  branches  therof  will  not  cease; 

Though  the  root  thereof  wax  old  in  the  earth, 

And  the  stock  thereof  die  in  the  ground; 

Yet  through  the  scent  of  water  it  will  bud,  and  put  forth  boughs 

like  a  plant. 

But  man  dieth  and  is  laid  low; 

Yea,  man  giveth  up  the  ghost,  and  where  is  he  ?     14 :  7-10. 
My  root  is  spread  out  to  the  waters,  and  the  dew  lieth  all  night 

upon  my  branches.     29:  19. 
Wilt  thou  harrass  a  driven  leaf?      13:  25. 

1  Gesenius,  p.  300.    ^n. 


16  METAPHORS   IN   BOOK   OF   JOB. 

2.  Flowers: 

Man  that  is  born  of  woman  is  of  few  days,  he  cometh  forth  like 
a  flower,  and  is  cut  down.      14:  2. 

3.  Grain: 

Being  hungry  they  carry  in  the  sheaves.     24:  10. 
Wilt  thou  pursue  the  dry  stubble?      13:  25. 

4.  Plants: 

They  pluck  salt-wort  by  the  bushes;  and  the  roots  of  the  broom 
are  their  food.     20:  4. 

Among  the  bushes  they  bray;  under  the  nettles  they  are  gath- 
ered together.     30:  7. 

Let  thistles  grow  instead   of  wheat,   cockle  instead  of  barley. 
31:  40. 

Is  there  any  taste  to  purslain-broth  ?     6:  6.1 
(e)  Animal  Kingdom. 

1.  Animals: 

And  if  my  head  exalt  itself,  thou  huntest  me  as  a  lion.      10:  16. 
Doth  the  wild  ass  bray  when  he  hath  grass,  or  loweth  the  ox  over 

his  fodder?     6:  5. 
Behold,  as  wild  asses  in  the  desert  they   (the  poor)  go  forth  to 

their  work  seeking  diligently  for  food.     24:  5. 
Whose  fathers  I  disdained  to  set  with  the  dogs  of  my  flock.      30 :  11. 
I  am  a  brother  to  jackals,  and  a  companion  to  ostriches.     30 :  30. 
Their    (the  wicked)    bull  gendereth,  and  faileth  not;   their  cow 

calveth,  and  casteth  not  her  calf.     They  send  forth  their  little 

ones  like  a  flock.     21:  10,  11. 
They  violently  take  away  flocks,  and  feed  them,  they  drive  away 

the  ass  of  the  fatherless;   they  take  the  widow's  ox  for  a 

pledge.     24:  2-4. 

Ask  now  the  beasts,  and  they  shall  teach  thee.     12 :  7. 
The  proud  beasts  have  not  trodden  it  (the  way  of  wisdom),  nor 

hath  the  fierce  lion  passed  thereby.     28:  8. 
If  he  hath  not  been  warmed  with  the  fleece  of  my  sheep.    31:  20. 

2.  Birds: 

Ask  the  birds  of  the  heavens,  and  they  shall  tell  thee.     12:  7. 
My  days  pass  away  as  the  eagle  that  swoopeth  on  the  prey.    9 :  26. 
That  path  no  bird  of  prey  knoweth,  neither  hath  the  falcon's  eye 

seen  it.     28:  7. 
Then  I  said  I  shall  die  in  my  nest,  I  shall  multiply  my  days  as 

the  phoenix.2    29:  18. 
Wisdom  is  kept  close  from  the  birds  of  the  heavens.     28:   21. 

3.  Serpents  and  fish: 

Speak  to  the  reptiles  crawling  on  the  earth,8  and  they  shall  teach 

1Gesenius,  p.  318.      rWD^n. 

T  — 

*  Gesenius,  p.  300.     ^n. 
3Gesenius,  p.  90,  No.  5. 


METAPHORS    IN   BOOK   OF    JOB.  17 

thee,  and  the  fishes  of  the  sea  shall  declare  unto  thee.     12 :  8. 
Am  I  a  sea  or  a  sea  monster?     7:  12. 
The  helpers  of  Rahab  do  stoop  under  him.     9:  13. 
And  by  his  understanding  he  smiteth  through  Rahab;  his  hand 

that  pierced  the  swift  serpent.      26:  12,  13. 
Who  are  ready  to  rouse  up  leviathan.     3:  8. 
B.    MAN  AND  HUMAN  LIFE. 
(a)   Government: 

God  increaseth  the  nations,  and  he  destroyeth  them ;  he  enlargeth 

the  nations  and  he  leadeth  them  captive.      12:  23. 
He  maketh  nations  grope  in  darkness  without  light.      12:  25. 

1.  Kings  and  Princes: 

If  Job  had  never  lived  he  would  have  been  with  Kings.    3 :  14. 

God  looseth  the  bonds  of  Kings.      12:    18. 

If  Job  had  never  lived  he  would  have  been  with  princes  that  had 

gold,  who  filled  their  houses  with  silver.      3:   15. 
As  a  prince  I  would  present  it  to  him.     31:  37. 
God  taketh  away  understanding  from  the  chiefs  of  the  people  of 

the  earth,   and  causeth  them  to  wander  in  the  wilderness 

where  there  is  no  way.      12:  24. 

2.  Priests: 

He  leadeth  priests  away  stripped.      12:  19. 

3.  Judges  and  counsellors: 

If  Job  had  never  lived  he  would  have  been  with  counsellors.    3 :  14. 

God  leadeth  counsellors  away  stripped.      12:  17. 

God  maketh  judges  fools.      12:  17. 

He  covers  the  faces  of  the  judges  of  the  earth.      9:  24. 

4.  Prison,  courts  and  trial: 

He  writeth  bitter  things  against  me.      13:  26. 

Lo,  here  is  my  mark,1  let  the  Almighty  answer  me,  and  that  I 

had  the  scroll2  which  mine  adversary  had  written.     31:  35. 
There  the  prisoners'  are  at  ease  together.     3 :  18. 
If  the  scourge  slay  suddenly,  he  will  mock  at  the  trial  of  the 

innocent.     9:  23. 
Thou  puttest  my  feet  in  the  stocks,  and  marked  all  my  paths. 

13:  27. 
(6)   Various  occupations: 

'  Ye  are  physicians  of  no  value.     13 :  4. 
Who  dig  for  death  more  than  for  hid  treasures.      3:  20. 
Ye  are  forgers  of  lies.      13:  4. 
The  murderer  rises  with  the  light;  he  killeth  the  poor  and  needy; 

and  in  the  night  he  is  a  thief.     24:   14. 
The  eye  also  of  the  adulterer  waiteth  for  twilight,  and  he  puts 

a  covering  on  his  face.     24 :  15. 

^esenius,  p.  1121.  in. 
2  Gesenius,  p.  732,  No.  2. 


18  METAPHORS   IN    BOOK   OF    JOB. 

Deliver  me  from  the  adversary's  hand,  redeem  me  from  the  hand 

of  the  oppressor.     6:  23. 
The  tents  of  the  robbers  prosper.     12 :  6. 
God  shines  on  the  counsels  of  the  wicked.      10:  3. 
The  deceived  and  the  deceiver  are  his.      12:  16. 
They  cry  after  me  as  after  a  thief.     30:  5. 
Let  them  curse  it  that  curse  the  day,  who  are  ready  to  rouse  up 

leviathan.     3:  8. 

(c)  Agriculture: 

They  cut  his  provender  in  the  field;  they  glean  the  vintage  of  the 

wicked.      24:   6. 

The  wilderness  yieldeth  them  bread  for  their  children.     24:  5. 
Being  hungry  they  carry  the  sheaves.     24:  10. 
The  wicked  are  as  stubble  before  the  wind,  and  as  the  chaff  which 

the  storm  carrieth  away.     21:  18. 

They  are  cut  off  as  the  tops  of  the  ears  of  corn.     24 :  24. 
Then  let  me  sow  and  another  eat;  yea,  let  the  produce  of  my 

field  be  rooted  out.     31:8. 
If  my  land  crieth  out  against  me,  and  the  furrows  thereof  weep 

together.     31:  38. 
Let  thistles  grow  instead  of  wheat,  and  cockle  instead  of  barley. 

31:  40. 

Does  God  pursue  the  dry  stubble?      13:  25. 
As  for  the  earth  out  of  it  cometh  bread.     28 :  5. 

(d)  Trades,  tools,  products: 

1.  Trades: 

God  breaketh  down  and  it  cannot  be  built  again.     12:  14. 

Who  buildeth  waste  places1  for  themselves.     3:  14. 

Caravans  of  Tema,  companies  of  Sheba.     6:  19,  20. 

Thy  hands  have  framed  and  fashioned  me  as  clay  (potter) .    10:  8. 

That  God  would  let  loose  his  hand  and  cut  me  off  (weaver) .    6:9. 

Thou  clothed  me  with  skin  and  flesh  and  put  me  together  with 

bones  and  sinews.      10:  11. 
My  days  are  swifter  than  a  post.      9:  25. 
They  tread  the  wine  presses  and  suffer  thirst.     24:  11. 
Then  let  my  wife  grind  unto  another.     31:  10. 
After  he  has  tried  me  I  shall  come  forth  as  gold.     23 :  10. 
Copper  is  molten  out  of  the  stone.     28:  2. 
He  breaketh  open  a  shaft  away  from  where  men  sojourn;  they 

hang  afar  from  men,  they  swing  to  and  fro.     28:  4. 
My  days  are  passed  away  as  the  swift  ships.     9:  26. 

2.  Tools: 

My  days  are  swifter  than  a  weaver's  shuttle.     7:  61. 
Oh  that  my  vexations  were  but  weighed,  and  my  calamity  laid 
in  the  balances  together.      6:  2. 

1  Gesenius,  p.  342.  fllTm.    Comp.  Isa.  57 :  7. 


METAPHORS    IN    BOOK   OF    JOB.  19 

My  transgressions  are  sealed  up  in  a  bag.     14:  17. 

God  hath  compassed  me  with  his  net.     19:  16. 

That  with  an  iron  pen  and  lead,  they  were  graven  in  the  rock 

forever!      19:  24. 
3.  Products: 

Thou  hast  poured  me  out  as  milk,  and  curdled  me  like  cheese. 

10:  11. 

They  make  oil  within  the  walls  of  these  men.     24:   11. 
My  steps  were  washed  with  butter.     29 :  6. 
(e)   Domestic  life,  family  relatives,  birth,  servants,  dress: 

1.  Family: 

Pluck  the  fatherless  from  the  breast.     24:  9. 

I  caused  the  widow's  heart  to  sing  for  joy,  the  fatherless  also 

that  had  none  to  help  him.     29 :  12,  13. 
If  I  have  said  to  the  pit  thou  are  my  father;  to  the  worm;  thou 

art  my  mother  and  my  sister.      17:   14. 
He  hath  put  my  brethren  far  from  me,  and  mine  acquaintance 

are  wholly  estranged  from  me.      19 :  13. 
My  kinsfolk  have  failed,  and  my  familiar  friends  have  forgotten 

me.      19:  14. 
They  that  dwell  in  my  house  and  my  maids,  count  me  for  a 

stranger.     19:  15. 

I  am  an  alien  in  their  sight.      19 :  16. 
My  breath  is  strange  to  my  wife,  and  I  am  loathsome  to  the 

children  of  my  own  mother.      19:  17. 
Even  young  children  despise  me.      19:   18. 
All  the  men  of  my  council  abhor  me,  and  they  whom  I  loved  are; 

turned  against  me.     19 :  19. 
Let  him  take  his  rod  away  from  me.     9:  34. 
Neither  is  the  rod  of  God  upon  them.     21:  9. 

2.  Birth: 

Let  that  night  be  barren.     3:  7. 

The  night  shut  not  up  the  door  of  my  mother's  womb.     3 :  10. 

Why  did  the  knees  receive  me,  or  why  the  breasts  that  I  should 

suck.      3:   12. 
As  a  hidden  or  untimely  birth,  as  infants  who  never  saw  light. 

3:  16. 
I  should  have  been  carried  from  the  womb  to  the  grave.     10:  19. 

3.  Servants: 

I  call  upon  my  servant,  and  he  giveth  me  no  answer,  though  I 

entreat  him  with  my  mouth.      19:  16. 
My  maids  count  me  for  a  stranger.      19:  15. 
They  hear  not  the  voice  of  the  taskmaster.     3 :  18. 
The  servant  is  free  from  his  master.      3:   19. 
Are  not  his  day's  like  the  days  of  a  hireling?     7:  1. 
As  a  servant  that  earnestly  desireth  the  shadow,  and  as  a  hireling 

that  looketh  for  his  wages.     7 :  2. 
Till  he  accomplish  as  a  hireling  his  day.      14:  6. 


20  METAPHORS   IN   BOOK   OF   JOB. 

4.  Clothes: 

I  am  like  a  garment  that  is  moth  eaten.     13 :  28. 

Poor  go  naked.     24 :  9. 

I  put  on  righteousness  and  it  clothed  me.     29:  14. 

My  justice  was  a  robe  and  a  diadem.     29:   14. 

Yet  wilt  thou  plunge  me  in  the  ditch,  and  mine  own  clothes  shall 

abhor  me.      9:  31. 

Thou  hast  clothed  me  with  skin  and  flesh.      10:  11. 
By  God's  great  force  is  my  garment  disfigured,  it  bindeth  me 

about  as  the  collar  of  my  coat.     30:  18. 
If  I  have  seen  any  perish  from  want  of  clothing;  or  that  the 

needy  had  no  covering.     30:  19. 
I  would  bind  it  unto  me  as  a  crown.     31 :  36. 
(/)  Manners,  customs  and  amusements: 

1.  Manners  and  customs: 

I  have  sewed  sackcloth  upon  my  skin.     16:  15. 

They  dig  for  death  more  than  for  hid  treasure.     3:  21. 

There  are  that  take  a  pledge  of  the  poor.     24:  9. 

Ye  would  cast  lots  upon  the  fatherless,  and  dig  a  pit1  for  your 
friend.  6:  27. 

Did  I  say  give  unto  me  or  offer  a  present  for  me  of  your  sub- 
stance? 6:  22. 

When  I  went  forth  unto  the  gates  into  the  city,  when  I  pre- 
pared my  seat  in  the  broad  place.  29 :  7. 

The  princes  laid  their  hands  on  their  mouth.     29:  9. 

As  one  that  comforteth  the  mourners.     29:  25. 

There  are  which  remove  the  landmarks.     24:  2. 

I  know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth.      19:  25.2 

There  is  no  day's  man3  betwixt  us.     9 :  33. 

Even  now  my  witness  is  in  heaven,  and  he  that  voucheth  for  me 
is  on  high.  16 :  19. 

Give  now  a  pledge,  who  is  there  that  will  strike  hands  with  me. 
17:  3. 

That  thou  wouldst  appoint  me  a  set  time.      14:  13.* 

2.  Amusements: 

I  am  as  one  that  is  a  laughing  stock  to  his  neighbors.  The 
just  and  perfect  man  a  laughing  stock.  12 :  4. 

He  hath  made  me  a  byword  to  the  people.      17:  6. 

Now  I  am  become  their  song;  yea,  I  am  a  byword  among  them. 
30:  9. 


1  Gesenius,  p.  487. 


1  Gesenius,  p.  487.    m3. 

T  T  * 

'Gesenius,  p.  170.    ^3-goel.  comp.  Job  3:  5. 
1  Gesenius,  p.  397,  No.  2  and  3.    !T3lD, 
4  Gesenius,  p.  339.    n'ru 


METAPHORS    IN   BOOK   OF   JOB.  21 

A  lamp  of  contempt  for  the  lanterns  of  the  gay;  ready  for  sea- 
sons of  festivity.      12:  5.1 

The  children  of  the  wicked  dance,  they  sing  to  the  timbrel  and 
harp,  and  rejoice  at  the  sound  of  the  pipe.     21:  11,  12. 

I  do  not  fall  below  you.2      (Wrestling.) 

I  am  not  inferior  to  you.      12:  3,  13:  2. 

Let  no  joyful  noise  come  therein;  let  it  not  rejoice  among  the 

days  of  the  year.     3 :  6,  7. 
(<jr)    Colloquial,  coarse  and  familiar  images: 

Nations  stagger  like  a  drunken  man.      12:  25. 

They  spit  in  my  face.      17:  6. 

Destruction  and  death  say  we  have  heard  a  rumor  thereof  with 
our  ears.     28:  22. 

Let  me  alone  till  I  swallow  my  spittle.     7:  19. 

I  am  like  a  rotten  thing  that  consumeth.     13 :  28. 

My  flesh  is  clothed  with  worms.     7 :  5. 

I  am  escaped  with  the  skin  of  my  teeth.      19:  20. 

The  eyes  of  the  adulterer  waiteth  for  the  twilight.     24:  15. 

And  my  mouth  hath  kissed  my  hand  (to  the  moon).      31:  27. 

No  doubt  but  ye  are  the  people,  and  wisdom  shall  die  with  you. 
12:  2. 

And  judges  he  maketh  fools1.      12:   18. 
(h)     The  body  and  its  parts,  including  the  senses  and  food: 
1.  Parts  of  the  body: 

Doors  of  the  womb.      3:  10. 

Knees  receive  me.     3:  12. 

Breasts  that  I  should  suck.     3 :  12. 

Cannot  my  taste  discern  mischievous  things?      6:  30. 

My  skin  closeth  up  and  breaketh  out  afresh.     7 :  5. 

My  flesh  is  clothed  with  worms.     7 :  5. 

Hast  thou  eyes  of  flesh  ?     10 :  4. 

Thou  hast  knit  me  together  with  bones  and  sinews.      10:  11. 

From  the  womb  to  the  grave.      10:  19. 

He  hath  gnashed  me  with  his  teeth. 

Mine  enemy  shapeneth  his  eyes  upon  me.     16 :  9. 

They  have  gaped  upon  me  with  their  mouth. 

They  have  smitten  me  upon  the  cheek  reproachfully.      He  hath 
taken  me  by  the  neck,  and  dashed  me  to  pieces.      16:   10,  12. 

He  cleaveth  my  reins  asunder.      16:   13. 

He  poureth  out  my  gall  upon  the  ground. 

I  have  sewed  sackcloth  upon  my  skin.      16:   15. 

He  hath  laid  my  horn  in  the  dust. 

My  bone  cleaveth  to  my  skin  and  to  my  flesh. 

And  I  am  escaped  with  the  skin  of  my  teeth.     19:  20. 

1  Gesenius,  p.  1024.    ]M&, 
2Gesenius,  p.  682,  note  1.    ?Q:. 


22  METAPHORS   IN   BOOK   OF   JOB. 

The  womb  shall  forget  him.     24:  20. 

Their  tongue  cleaved  to  the  root  of  their  mouth.     29:  10. 

I  was  eyes  to  the  blind.     29:  15. 

And  feet  was  I  to  the  lame. 

I  brake  the  jaws  of  the  unrighteous.     29:  17. 

And  plucked  the  prey  out  of  his  teeth. 

If  my  foot  hath  hasted  to  deceit.     31:5.   :~>^_ 

And  my  heart  walked  after  mine  eyes.     31:  17. 

Then  let  my  arm  fall  from  my  shoulder  blade,  and  mine  arm  be 

broken  from  the  bone.      31:  22. 
If  my  heart  hath  been  secretly  enticed,  and  my  mouth  hath 

kissed  my  hand.     31:27. 
Let  not  night  behold  the  eyelids  of  the  morning.     3 :  9. 

2.  Functions  of  the  body: 

Let  me  alone  till  I  swallowed  my  spittle.      7:   19. 

Seeth  thou  as  man  seeth?     10:  5. 

Does  not  the  ear  try  words  as  the  palate  tastes  its  food?    12:  11. 

3.  Food: 

Can  that  which  hath  no  savor  be  eaten  without  salt?  or  is  there 
any  taste  in  the  white  of  an  egg?      (Insipid  weed.) 

My  soul  refuseth  to  touch  them;  they  are  as  my  loathsome  food. 
6:  6,  7. 

I  have  treasured  up  the  words  of  his  mouth  more  than  my  neces- 
sary food.     23 :  12. 

The  wilderness  yieldeth  them  food  for  their  children.      24:  5. 

They  tread  the  wine  presses  and  suffer  thirst.     24:  11. 

Or  have  eaten  my  morsel  alone.     31 :  17. 
(;)   Subjective  life: 

I  should  have  lain  down  and  been  quiet,  I  should  have  slept.  3 :  13. 

So  man  lieth  down  and  riseth  not:  till  the  heavens  be  no  more 
they  shall  not  awake,  nor  be  roused  out  of  sleep.      14:  12. 

Where  the  wicked  cease  from  troubling,  and  where  the  weary  are 
at  rest.      3:   17. 

For  my  sighings  come  before  I  eat.      3:  24. 

My  purposes  are  broken  off.     17:  11. 
(k)  Death: 

When  they  can  find  the  grave.     3:  22. 

Morning  is  to  them  as  the  shadow  of  death.     24:  17. 

Destruction  and  death  say,  we  have  heard  a  rumor  thereof  with 

our  ears.     28:  22. 
1.  War: 

The  arrows  of  the  Almighty  are  within  me,  the  poison  whei^of 
my  soul  drinks  up.     6:  4. 

The  terrors  of  God  set  themselves  in  battle  array  against  me. 
6:  4. 

Is  there  not  a  warfare  to  man  upon  the  earth?     7:1. 

Why  hast  thou  set  me  as  a  mark  for  thee.     7 :  20. 


METAPHORS   IN   BOOK   OF   JOB.  23 

Host  after  host  is  against  me.      10:  17. 

Your  defences  are  defences  of  clay.      13:  12. 

All  the  days  of  my  warfare  would  I  wait,  till  my  change  should 

come.      14:   14. 

He  hath  also  set  me  up  for  his  mark.     16:  12. 
His  archers  compass  me  round  about,  he  breaketh  me  with  breach 

upon  breach,  he  runneth  upon  me  like  a  giant.      16:  13,  14. 
His  troops  come  on  together,  and  cast  up  their  way  against  me, 

and  encamp  round  about  my  tent.      19 :  12. 
Be  ye  afraid  of  the  sword.     19 :  29. 
My  bow  is  renewed  in  my  hand.     29:  20. 
And  dwelt  as  king  in  the  army.     29:  25. 
He  has  loosed  his  cord  (bow  string),  and  afflicted  me.     30:  11. 
(m)   Scripture: 

If  like  Adam,  I  have  covered  my  transgression  by  hiding  my 

iniquity  in  my  bosom.     31:  33. 
( n )   Miscellaneous : 

There  are  that  remove  the  landmarks.     7:   14. 

How  oft  is  the  lamp  of  the  wicked  put  out?    21:   17. 

When   God's   lamp   shined   upon   my  head,   and  by   his  light   I 

walked  through  darkness.     29:  213. 
These  are  the  outskirts  of  his  ways.     26:  4. 

III.     METAPHORS  IN  THE   SPEECHES   OF  ELIPHAZ 

THE    TEMANITE. 
A.    NATURE: 

(a)   Aspect  of  the  sky,  etc.: 

1.  The  sky: 

Is  not  God  in  the  heights  of  heaven?  and  behold  the  stars,  how 

high  they  are!     22:   12. 
Thick  clouds  are  a  covering  to  him,  and  he  walketh  on  the  walla 

of  heaven.     22:   14. 

2.  Day  and  night: 

They  meet  with  darkness  in  the  day  time,  and  grope  at  noonday 

as  at  night.     5:14. 
Light  shall  shine  upon  thy  ways.     22:  28. 

3.  Storm: 

Who  giveth  rain  upon  the  earth,  and  sendeth  waters  upon  the 
fields.     5:   10. 

Shall  a  wise  man  fill  himself  with  the  east  wind?     15:  2. 
(5)  Aspects  of  wateit 

Abundance  of  waters  cover  thee.     22:   11. 

Whose  foundation  was  poured  out  as  a  stream.     22:   16. 

Lay  the  gold  of  Ophir  among  the  stones  of  the  brooks.     22:  24. 
(c)   The  earth,  etc.:     • 
1.  The  earth: 

Wast  thou  brought  forth  before  the  hills.     15:  7. 


24  METAPHORS   IN   BOOK   OF   JOB. 

2.  The  elements: 

Man  is  born  to  trouble  as  the  sparks  to  fly  upwards.     5 :  7. 
The  flame  shall  dry  up  his  branches.     15 :  30. 
Fire  shall  consume  the  tents  of  bribery.     15:  34. 

3.  Minerals: 

Whose  foundations  are  in  the  dust.     4:   19. 

Affliction  cometh  not  forth  from  the  dust,  neither  doth  trouble 
spring  out  of  the  ground.  5:  6. 

Thou  shalt  be  in  league  with  the  stones  of  the  field.     5 :  23. 

Lay  thou  thy  treasure  in  the  dust,  and  the  gold  of  Ophir  among 
the  stones  of  the  brooks,  and  the  Almighty  will  be  thy  treas- 
ure, and  precious  silver  unto  thee.  22:  24,  25. 

(d)  Vegetable  kingdom: 

I  have  seen  the  wicked  taking  root.     5:  3. 

Thy  offspring  shall  be  as  the  grass  of  the  earth.     5:  25. 

Thou  shalt  come  to  thy  grave  in  full  age,  like  as  a  shock  of  grain 

cometh  in  its  season.     5 :  26. 
The  flame  shall  dry  up  his  branch,  his  branch  shall  not  be  green. 

15:  30. 
He  shall  shake  off  his  unripe  fruit  as  the  vine,  and  shall  cast  off 

his  flower  as  the  olive  tree.     15:  32. 

(e)  Animal  kingdom: 

The  roaring  of  the  lion,  and  the  voice  of  the  fierce  lion,  and  the 
teeth  of  the  young  lion  are  broken.  The  old  lion  perishes  for 
lack  of  prey  and  the  whelps  of  the  lioness  are  scattered 
abroad.  4:  10,  11. 

Who  are  crushed  before  the  moth.     4:  19. 
The  beasts  of  the  earth  shall  be  at  peace  with  thee.     5:  23. 
B.    MAN  AND  HUMAN  LIFE: 
(a)  Various  occupations: 

The  snare  gapeth  for  thy  substance.     5:  5. 
Therefore  snares  are  round  about  thee.     22:   10. 
He  frustrateth  the  devices  of  the  crafty,  so  that  their  hands  can- 
not perform  their  enterprises.     5 :   12. 
1.  Agriculture: 

They  that  plow  iniquity,  and  sow  trouble,  reap  the  same.     4:  8. 
He  taketh  the  wise  in  their  own  craftiness,  and  the  council  of 

the  cunning  is  carried  headlong.     5:   13. 
(fc)  Domestic  life: 
1.  Houses: 

Who  live  in  houses  of  clay,  whose  foundations  are  in  the  dust, 
who  are  crushed  before  the  moth,  is  not  their  tent  cord 
plucked  up  within  them?  4:  19,  21. 

He  that  dwelleth  in  desolate  cities,  in  houses  which  no  man  in- 
habited, which  are  ready  to  become  heaps.  15:  28. 


METAPHORS   IN   BOOK   OF   JOB.  25 

2.  Birth: 

They  conceive  mischief  and  bring  forth  iniquity.     15:  35. 
The  company  of  the  godless  shall  be  barren.     15 :  24. 

(c)  Parts  of  the  body: 

Thou  hast  made  firm  the  feeble  knees.     4:  4. 
Thou  hast  strengthened  the  weak  hands.     4:  3. 
Iniquity  stoppeth  her  mouth.     5 :   17. 
Thou  choosest  the  tongue  of  the  crafty.     15:  5. 
Why  do  thine  eyes  flash?      15:  12. 
The  arms  of  the  fatherless  have  been  broken.     22:  9. 
2.  Food: 

A  man  that  drinketh  iniquity  like  water.     15 :  23. 
Thou  hast  not  given  water  to  the  weary  to  drink,  and  thou  hast 
withholden  bread  from  the  hungry.     22 :  7. 

(d)  Subjective  life: 

In  thoughts  from  the  visions  of  the  night,  when  deep  sleep  falleth 
upon  man,  fear  came  upon  me  and  trembling  which  made  all 
my  bones  to  shake.  Then  a  spirit  passed  before  my  face,  the 
hair  of  my  flesh  stood  up.  It  stood  still  but  I  could  not  dis- 
cern the  appearance  thereof;  a  form  was  before  mine  eyes. 
There  was  silence  and  I  heard  a  voice.  4:  13-16. 

(e)  War: 

Distress  and  anguish  make  him  afraid;  they  prevail  against  him, 

as  a  king  ready  to  battle.     15:  24. 
He   runneth  upon  him  with  the  thick  bosses  of  his  bucklers. 

15:  26. 
He  is  waited  for  of  the  sword.     15:  22. 

IV.     METAPHORS  IN  THE  SPEECHES  OF  BILDAD,  THE  SHUHITE. 

A.    NATUEE: 

(a)   Day  and  night,  shadow,  wind: 

He  shall  be  driven  from  light  into  darkness  and  chased  out  of 

the  world.     18:  18. 
Our  days  upon  the  earth  are  but  a  shadow:    We  are  but  of 

yesterday.     8:  9. 
How  long  shall  the  words  of  thy  mouth  be  as  a  mighty  wind? 

8:  2. 

(5)  Aspects  of  the  earth,  minerals: 
1.  The  earth: 

Shall  the  earth  be  forsaken  for  thee,  or  shall  the  rock  be  removed 

out  of  its  place?     18:  6. 

Brimstone  shall  be  scattered  upon  his  habitation.     18:   15. 
(c)   Vegetable  kingdom: 

Can  the  rush  grow  up  without  mire  ?     Can  the  flag  grow  up  with- 
out water?     Whilst  it  is  yet  in  its  greenness  and  not  cut 
down,  it  withereth  before  any  other  herb.     8:   11,  12. 
He  is  green  before  the  sun, 


26  METAPHORS   IN   BOOK   OF   JOB. 

And  his  shoots  go  forth  over  his  garden. 

His  roots  are  wrapped  about  the  stone  heap. 

He  beholdeth  the  place  of  stones.     18:  16,  17. 

He  shall  be  rooted  out  of  his  tent  wherein  he  trusteth.     18:  14. 

His  roots  shall  be  dried  up  beneath,  and  above  shall  his  branches 

be  cut  off.     18:   16. 
(d)   Animal  kingdom: 

Whose  trust  is  a  spider's  web.     8:   14. 

Wherefore  are  we  counted  as  beasts.     18:  3. 
B.    MAN  AND  HUMAN  LIFE: 
(a)   Trades: 

For  he  is  cast  into  a  net  by  his  own  feet, 

And  he  walketh  upon  the  toils. 

A  gin  shall  take  him  by  the  heels, 

And  a  snare  shall  lay  hold  on  him. 

A  noose  is  hid  for  him  in  the  ground. 

And  a  trap  for  him  in  the  way.     18:  8-10. 

(5)  Domestic  life: 

His  remembrance  shall  be  cut  off  and  he  shall  have  no  name  in 

the  street.     18:  17. 
He  shall  have  neither  kith  nor  kin  among  his  people,  nor  any 

remaining  where  he  sojourned.     18:   19. 

(c)  Death  and  the  grave: 

Yea,  the  first  born  of  death  shall  devour  his  members.     18:   13. 
He  shall  be  brought  to  the  king  of  terrors.     18:   14. 

(d)  Miscellaneous: 

Yea,  the  light  of  the  wicked  shall  be  put  out,  and  the  spark  of 

his  fire  shall  not  shine: 
The  light  shall  be  dark  in  his  tent. 
And  his  lamp  above  him  shall  be  put  out.     18:  5,  6. 

V.    METAPHORS  IN  THE  SPEECHES  OF  ZOPHAR,  THE 

NAAMATHITE. 
A.    NATUBE: 

(a)  Aspects  of  the  sky: 

It  is  as  high  as  heaven.     11:  8. 

Though  his  head  mount  up  to  the  heavens,  and  his  head  reach 

unto  the  clouds.     20:  6. 
2.  Day  and  Night: 

Thy  life  shall  be  clearer  than  the  noonday,  though  there  be  dark- 
ness, it  shall  be  as  morning.     11:  17. 
All  darkness  is  laid  up  for  his  treasures.     20:  26. 

(6)  Aspects  of  water: 

The  measure  thereof  is  broader  than  the  sea.     11:  9. 
Thou  shalt  remember  it  as  waters  that  have  passed  away.    11 :  16. 
(c)   Earth: 

The  measure  thereof  is  longer  than  the  earth.     11:  9. 


METAPHORS    IN    BOOK   OF    JOB.  27 

2.  Elements: 

A  fire  not  blown  by  man  shall  devour  him;  it  shall  consume  that 

which  is  left  in  his  tent.     20:  26. 
(d)   Animal  kingdom: 

It  is  the  gall  of  asps  within  him.     20:  14. 
The  viper's  tongue  shall  slay  him.     20:  16. 
Man  is  born  as  a  wild  ass's  colt.     1 :  12. 
B.    MAN  AND  HUMAN  LIFE: 
(a)   Domestic  life: 

Let  not  unrighteousness  dwell  in  his  tent. 
(6)   Coarse  and  repulsive  images: 

Yet  he  shall  perish  forever  like  his  own  dung.     20:  7. 

(c)  Food: 

Though  wickedness  be  sweeet  in  his  mouth, 

Though  he  hid  it  under  his  tongue, 

Though  he  spare  it,  and  will  not  let  it  go, 

But  keep  it  still  within  his  mouth; 

Yet  his  food  in  his  bowels  is  turned, 

It  is  the  gall  of  asps  within  him.     20:  12-14. 

He  hath  swallowed  down  riches, 

And  he  shall  vomit  them  up  again; 

God  will  cast  them  out  of  his  belly.     20:  15. 

(d)  Subjective  life: 
Dreams : 

He  shall  fly  away  as  a  dream. 

Yea,  he  shall  be  chased  away  as  a  vision  of  the  night.     20:  8. 

(e)  War: 

He  shall  flee  from  the  iron  weapon,  and  the  bow  of  brass  shall 

strike  him  through.     20:  24. 
He  draweth  it  forth,  and  it  cometh  out  of  his  body,  yea,  the 

glittering  point  cometh  out  of  his  gall.     20:  25. 

VI.     METAPHORS    IN   THE    SPEECHES    OF    ELIHU   THE    BUZITE. 

A.    NATUBE: 

(a)  Aspects  of  the  sky: 
1.  Storm: 

Behold,  God  is  great,  and  we  know  him  not.     36:  26. 
For  he  draweth  up  the  drops  of  water, 
Which  distil  in  rain  from  his  vapor.     36:  26. 
Which  the  skies  pour  down.     36:  28. 
And  drop  upon  man  abundantly. 

Yea,  can  any  understand  the  spreading  of  the  clouds, 
The  thundering  of  his  pavilion?     36:  29. 
Behold,  he  spreadeth  his  light  around  him; 
And  he  covereth  the  bottom  of  the  sea.     36 :  30. 
He  covereth  his  hands  with  the  lightning  and  giveth  it  a  charge 
that  it  strike  the  mark.     36:  32. 


28  METAPHORS    IN    BOOK   OF    JOB. 

The  noise  thereof  telleth  concerning  him.     36:  33. 

The  cattle  also  concerning  the  storm  that  cometh  up. 

Hear,  oh,  hear  the  noise  of  his  voice, 

And  the  sound  that  goeth  out  of  his  mouth.     37:  2. 

He  sendeth  it  forth  under  the  whole  heaven 

And  his  lightnings  unto  the  ends  of  the  earth.     37 :  3. 

After  it  a  voice  roareth. 

He  thundereth  with  the  voice  of  his  majesty; 

And  he  restraineth  not  his  lightnings  when  his  voice  is  heard. 

37:  4. 

God  thundereth  marvelously  with  his  voice; 
Great  things  doeth  he  which  we  cannot  comprehend.     37 :  5. 
For  he  says  to  the  snow;  fall  thou  on  the  earth;  likewise  to  the 

shower  of  rain.     37:  6. 
And  to  the  shower  of  his  mighty  rain. 
He  sealeth  up  the  hand  of  every  man.     37:   7. 
Then  the  beasts  go  into  coverts, 
And  remain  in  their  dens.     37 :   8. 
Out  of  the  chamber  of  the  south  cometh  the  storm  and  cold  out 

of  the  north.     37:  9. 
By  the  breath  of  God  ice  is  given, 
And  the  breadth  of  the  waters  is  congealed.     37:   10. 
Yes,  he  ladeth  the  thick  cloud  with  moisture; 
He  spreadeth  abroad  the  cloud  of  his  lightning.     37:   11. 
And  it  is  turned  round  about  by  his  guidance 
That  they  may  do  whatsoever  he  commandeth  them  upon  the 

face  of  the  habitable  world;     37:  12. 

Whether  it  be  for  correction,  or  for  his  land,  or  for  loving  kind- 
ness, that  he  cause  it  to  come.     37 :  13. 
Dost  thou  know  how  God  causeth  the  lightning  of  his  cloud  to 

shine?     37:  15. 

Dost  thou  know  the  balancing  of  the  clouds?     37:  16. 
Thou  whose  garments  are  warm  when  he  quieteth  the  earth  by 

the  south  wind.     37 :  17. 

Out  of  the  north  cometh  golden  splendor.     37:  22. 
(6)   Earth: 

I  also  am  formed  out  of  clay.     33:  6. 
B.    MAN  AND  HUMAN  LIFE: 
(a)  Domestic  life: 

Who  giveth  songs  in  the  night.     35:   10. 

Canst  thou  with  him  spread  out  the  sky,  which  is  strong  as  a 

molten  mirror.     37:  18. 
(fc)   Food: 

Behold  my  breast  is  as  new  wine  which  hath  no  vent,  like  new 

wine  skins  which  are  ready  to  burst.     32:   19. 
The  ear  tryeth  words  as  the  palate  tasteth  food.     34:  3. 
What  man  is  like  Job  who  drinketh  up  scoffings  like  water.    34 :  7. 


METAPHORS   IN    BOOK   OF    JOB.  29 

(c)   Quoted  from  Job: 

He  counteth  me  for  his  enemy. 

He  putteth  my  feet  in  the  stocks. 

He  marketh  all  my  paths.     33:  10,  11. 

VII.     METAPHORS    IN   THE    JEHOVAH    SPEECHES. 
A.    NATUBE: 

(a)   Aspects  of  the  sky: 

1.  Stars: 

When  the  morning  stars  sang  together.     38:  7. 

Canst  thou  bind  the  cluster  of  the  Pleiades,  or  loose  the  bands 

of  Orion? 

Canst  thou  lead  forth  the  Mazzaroth  in  their  season? 
Or  canst  thou  guide  the  Bear  with  her  train? 
Knowest  thou  the  ordinances  of  the  heavens?     38:   31-33. 

2.  Day  and  night: 

Where  is  the  way  to  the  dwelling  of  light? 
As  for  darkness  where  is  the  place  thereof  ?     38 :  19. 
Hast  thou  commanded  the  morning,  and  caused  the  day  star  to 
know  its  place?     38:  12. 

3.  Storm: 

By  what  way  is  the  light  parted  and  the  east  wind  scattered 

upon  the  earth?     28:  24. 
Who  hath  cleft  a  channel  for  the  water  flood,  or  a  way  for  the 

lightning  of  the  thunder;  to  cause  it  to  rain  on  a  land  where; 

no  man  is?     38:  25,  26. 
Canst  thou  lift  up  thy  voice  to  the  clouds,  that  abundance  of" 

water  may  cover  thee? 
Canst  thou  send  forth  lightnings  that  may  go,  and  say  unto  thee, 

here  we  are  ?     38 :  34,  35. 
(6)   Aspects  of  water: 

Who  shut  up  the  sea  with  doors  and  set  bars  and  doors,  and 

said  hither  to  shalt  thou  come  but  no  farther;  and  here  shall 

thy  proud  waves  be  staid.     38:   11. 
Hast  thou  entered  into  the  springs  of  the  sea  or  entered  into 

the  recesses  of  the  deep,  the  face  of  the  deep  is  frozen.     38 :  30. 
(c)   Aspects  of  the  earth: 
1.  Earth: 

Foundations  of  the  earth.      38:  4. 

That  it  might  take  hold  of  the  ends  of  the  earth.     38:   13. 

The  wilderness  wherein  there  is  no  man; 

To  satisfy  the  waste  and  desolate  ground.     38 :  26,  27. 

Salt  land  is  his  dwelling  place,  the  wilderness  is  his  home.     39 :  6. 

The  range  of  the  mountain  is  his  pasture.     39:  8. 

On  the  cliff  she  dwelleth,  upon  the  point  of  the  cliff,  and  the 

stronghold.     39:  28. 
Canst  thou  comprehend  the  earth  in  its  breadth.     38:  18. 


30  METAPHORS   IN   BOOK   OF   JOB. 

2.  Minerals,  dust: 

When  the  dust  runneth  into  a  mass,  and  the  clods  cleave  fast 

together.     38:  38. 

The  waters  hide  themselves  and  become  like  stones.     39:   30. 
(d)   Animal  kingdom: 

Lion,  38:   39-40.      Hind,  39:    1.      Wild  goat,  39:    1-4.      Wild  ass, 
39:  5-8.     Wild  ox,  39:  9-12.    Lion  horse,  39:  19-25.    Raven, 
38:    41.      Ostrich,  39:    13-18.      Hawk,  39:    26.      Eagle,  39: 
27-30.      Hippopotamus,  40:   15-24.      Crocodile,  41:   1-34. 
B.    MAN  AND  HUMAN  LIFE: 
( a )   Agriculture : 

To  cause  the  tender  grass  to  spring  forth.     38:  27. 
Canst  thou  bind  the  wild  ox  with  his  band  in  the  furrow?  or 
will  he  harrow  the  valley  after  thee,  will  thou  confide  in  him, 
that  he  will  bring  home  thy  seed,  and  gather  the  grain  of  thy 
threshing  floor?     39:  10-12. 
<6)  Trades: 

Where  wast  thou  when  I  laid  the  foundation  of  the  earth  ?     Who 
determined  the  measure  thereof,  or  who  stretched  a  line  upon 
it,  whereupon  were  the  foundations  fastened,  or  who  laid  the 
cornerstone  thereof?     38:  4-7. 
and  set  bars  and  doors.     38:  10. 

It  is  changed  as  clay  under  the  seal  and  stands  forth  as  a  gar- 
ment. 38:  14. 

Hast  thou  entered  the  treasures  of  the  snow,  or  hast  thou  seen 
the  treasures  of  the  hail?  38:  22. 

(c)  Domestic  life: 

Has  the  rain  a  father,  or  who  hath  begotten  the  drops  of  dew? 
Out  of  whose  womb  came  the  ice?  and  the  hoar  frost  of 
heaven  who  hath  gendered  it?  38:  28,  29. 

The  paths  to  the  house  of  darkness.     38:  20. 

I  made  the  clouds  the  garment  of  the  sea,  and  the  thick  darkness 
a  swaddling  band  for  it.  38 :  9. 

Knowest  thou  the  time  when  the  wild  goats  of  the  rocks  bring 
forth,  or  canst  thou  mark  when  the  hinds  do  calve?  Canst 
thou  number  the  months  that  they  fulfill,  or  knowest  thou 
the  time  when  they  bring  forth?  they  bow  themselves,  they 
bring  forth  their  young.  They  cast  out  their  pains.  Their 
young  ones  become  strong,  they  grow  up  in  the  open  fields; 
they  go  forth  and  return  not  again.  39:  1-4. 

When  his  young  ones  cry  for  food  to  God.     38:  41. 

When  it  breaks  forth  as  if  it  had  issued  out  of  the  womb.    38 :  8. 

(d)  War: 

He  goeth  out  to  meet  the  armed  men.     39:  21. 
He  mocketh  at  fear  and  is  not  dismayed; 
Neither  turneth  he  back  from  the  sword.     39:  22. 
The  quiver  rattleth  against  him; 


METAPHORS    IN    BOOK   OF   JOB.  31 

The  flashing  spear  and  the  javelin.     39:  23. 

He  swalloweth  the  ground  with  fierceness  and  rage; 

Neither  believeth  he  that  it  is  the  voice  of  the  trumpeter.    39 :  24. 

As  oft  as  the  trumpet  soundeth  he  saith,  Aha! 

And  he  smelleth  the  battle  afar  off, 

The  thunder  of  the  captains  and  the  shouting.     39:  25. 

If  one  lay  at  him  with  the  sword,  it  cannot  avail; 

Nor  the  spear,  the  dart,  nor  the  pointed  shaft.     41 :  26. 

The  arrow  cannot  make  him  flee: 

Sling-stones  are  turned  with  him  into  stubble.     41 :  28. 

Clubs  are  counted  as  stubble. 

He  laugheth  at  the  rushing  of  the  javelin.     41 :  29. 

Which  I  have  reserved  against  the  day  of  battle  and  war.     38 :  23. 

VIII.     METAPHORS    IN   THE    DISPUTED   PORTION. 

1.  Metaphors  in  the  speeches  of  Elihu.     (See  Table  VI.) 

2.  Metaphors  in  the  Mining  Lyric,  Chapter  28.     (See  Table  II.) 

3.  Behemoth,  the  hippopotamus. 

A.  NATUBE: 

(a)  Aspects  of  water: 

Though  a  Jordan  swelleth  even  to  his  mouth.    40:  23. 
(6)   Minerals: 

His  bones  are  tubes  of  brass;  his  ribs  are  ribs  of  iron.     40:  18. 

(c)  Vegetable  kingdom: 

He  moveth  his  tail  like  a  cedar.    40:  17. 

Lotus  trees,  covert  of  the  reed,  and  fen,  the  willows  of  the  brooks. 
40:  21-22. 

(d)  Animal  kingdom: 

He  eateth  grass  as  an  ox.     40:  15. 

4.  Leviathan,  the  crocodile. 

(e)  Day  and  night: 

His  sneezings  flash  forth  light,  his  eyes  are  like  the  eyelids  of 
the  morning.     41 :  18. 

(f)  Aspects  of  the  sea: 

He  maketh  a  path  to  shine  after  him;  one  would  think  the  deep 
to  be  hoary.     41 :  32. 

(g)  Minerals: 

His  heart  is  as  firm  as  stone.     41 :  24. 

B.  MAN  AND  HUMAN  LIFE: 
( a )   Agriculture : 

He  counteth  iron  as  straw,  and  brass  as  rotten  wood.     41 :  27. 
Slingstones  are  turned  with  him  into  stubble. 
Clubs  are  counted  as  stubble.     41 :  28,  29. 

He  spreadeth  as  it  were  a  threshing- wain  upon  the  mire.     41 :  30. 
(5)   Trades: 

Will  the  bands  of  fishermen  make  traffic  of  him;  will  they  part 
him  among  the  merchants?     41:  6. 


32  METAPHORS   IN   BOOK   OF   JOB. 

His  scales  shut  up  together  as  with  a  closed  seal.     41:  15. 
His  heart  is  firm  as  the  nether  millstone.     41:  24. 

(c)  Domestic  life: 

Will  he  make  a  covenant  with  thee,  that  thou  shouldest  take 

him  for  a  servant  forever?     41:  4.1 
1  Exod.  21 :  6. 

Will  thou  play  with  him  as  with  a  bird,  or  wilt  thou  bind  him 

for  thy  maidens?     41:  5. 
Who  can  open  the  doors  of  his  face?     41:  14. 
A  smoke  as  of  a  boiling  pot  and  burning  rushes.     41 :  20. 
His  breath  kindleth  coals,  and  a  flame  goeth  forth  from  his 

mouth.     41:  21. 

His  underparts  are  like  potsherds.     41 :  30. 
He  maketh  the  deep  to  boil  like  a  pot:  he  maketh  the  sea  like 

a  pot  of  ointment.     41:  31. 

(d)  War: 

Lay  thy  hand  upon  him;  remember  the  battle  and  do  so  no  more. 

41:  8. 
He  laugheth  at  the  rushing  of  the  javelin.     41 :  29. 

IX.  METAPHORS  IN  PORTIONS  OF  THE  THIRD  CYCLE. 

1.  METAPHORS  IN  CHAPTER  24:  18-21. 

A.  NATURE: 

(a)  Vegetable  kingdom: 

Unrighteousness  shall  be  broken  as  a  tree.     24:  20. 
(6)  Animal  kingdom: 

The  worm  shall  feed  sweetly  upon  him.     24:  20. 

B.  MAN  AND  HUMAN  LIFE: 
(a)  Domestic  life: 

The  womb  shall  forget  him.     24:  20. 
He  devoureth  the  barren  that  beareth  not.     24:  21. 
(6)    Sheol: 

Drouth  and  heat  violently  take  away1  the  snow  waters:  so  doth 
Sheol  those  that  have  sinned.     24:  19. 

2.  METAPHORS  IN  CHAPTER  27 :  8-23. 
A.    NATURE: 

(a)   Storm: 

A  tempest  stealeth  him  away  in  the  night;  the  east  wind  carrieth 

him  away;  it  sweepeth  him  out  of  his  place.     27:  21. 
(6)   Clay  and  dust: 

Though  he  heap  up  silver  as  the  dust,  and  prepare  raiment  as 

the  clay.     27:  16. 
(c)   Animal  kingdom: 

He  buildeth  his  house  as  the  moth.     27:   18. 

1  Gesenius,  p.  187.     ^ 


METAPHORS    IN   BOOK   OF   JOB.  33 

B.    MAN  AND  HUMAN  LIFE: 
(a)   Booth: 

As  a  booth  which  the  keeper  maketh.     27 :  18. 
(6)   Manners  and  customs: 

Men  shall  clap  their  hands  at  him,  and  shall  hiss  him  out  of  his 

place.     27:  23. 

(c)   Ye  are  become  altogether  vain.     27:   12.     Compare  11:   12. 
3.  METAPHORS  IN  CHAPTEE  25. 

A.  NATURE: 

(a)   Aspects  of  the  sky: 

Behold  even  the  morn  hath  no  brightness,  and  the  stars  are  not 
pure  in  his  sight.     25:  5. 

And  upon  whom  doth  not  his  light  arise.     25:  3. 
(6)   Animal  kingdom: 

Man  that  is  a  worm,  and  the  son  of  man  that  is  a  worm.     25:  6. 

B.  MAN  AND  HUMAN  LIFE: 
(a)   War: 

Is  there  any  number  to  his  armies?     25:  3. 
He  maketh  peace  in  his  high  places.1     25:  2. 

'Gesenius,  p.  616. 


PAET   III. 

DEDUCTIONS  FROM  A   STUDY  OF  THE 
MATERIAL  IN  PART  II. 

The  English  version  of  Job  records  some  five  hundred  similes 

and  metaphors ;  but  the  translation  has  been  made 

What  the  at  a  great  sacrifice  of  symbolic  suggestiveness. 

Metaphors          por  instance,  the  word  translated  "  change  "  in 

Eevealof  Ori-    &    expression:  "All  the  days  of  my  appointed 

ental  Tropes,  .  ,„  .    . 

In  General*        time  I  wait,  till  my  change  come,  *  is  in  reality 

(a)  Their  a  m^itary  metaphor,  "All  the  days  of  my  war- 
abundance.  ^are  will  I  wait  until  my  exchange  come  " .  until 
I  am  relieved  by  others.  The  miserable  state  of 
the  shades  in  Sheol  is  being  compared  to  the  hard  service  of  a 
soldier  on  guard.  The  connotation  is  also  of  new  troops  suc- 
ceeding in  place  of  those  fatigued ;  "  Changes  and  a  host  are 
against  me  "  :2  i.  e.f  hosts  continually  succeed  each  other.3  The 
root  meaning  to  slip,  to  glide,  passing  over  in  the  piel,  to  mean 
"  let  pass  away  "  (used  in  reference  to  change  of  a  garment), 
by  metaphor  came  to  have  the  military  significance.  It  takes 
little  imagination  to  see  that  in  translation,  the  picturesque  ex- 
tension of  the  thought  has  been  sacrificed.  The  metaphor  is 
blurred,  if  not  quite  blotted  out.  In  this  way  have  been  for- 
feited two  hundred  or  more  inetaphoric  ideas,  dependent  for 
their  suggestiveness  upon  the  original  Hebrew.  But  of  these 
this  essay  will  take  no  account^  for  those  tabulated  are  enough 
to  show  the  abundant  use  of  the  trope  in  Job.  The  tables 
furthermore  show  that  simile  and  metaphor  occur  in  connection 
with  other  figures  of  speech:  personification,  interrogation, -ex- 

1  Job  14:   14   (King  James  Version). 

'Job  10:   17. 

'Gesenius,  p.  317,  2.    ilS^n. 

T    •  -: 

34 


INDUCTIONS  FROM  STUDY  OF  PART  II.        35 

clamation  and  hyperbole  vie  with  the  metaphor  for  recognition.  ! 

Indeed,  so  rich  is  Job  in  figures,  that  as  one  reads  the  poem 
he  is  continually  at  a  loss  to  decide  what  is  metaphor — what 
direct  statement.  Eeference  to  the  tables  will  show  that  many 
of  the  expressions  read  like  literal  statements  of  fact,  and  might 
by  the  young  student  be  rejected  from  the  lists:  for  example, 
the  seemingly  direct  affirmations  about  God  throughout  the  book 
(many  of  which  appear  in  the  tables),  and  any  expression  in 
Job's  curse  (ch.  3)  or  in  the  mining  lyric  (ch.  28).  Are  these 
metaphorical  or  merely  direct  statements  ?  "  As  for  that  night, 
let  it  not  rejoice  among  the  days  of  the  year ;  let  no  joyful  noise 
come  therein."  There  is  no  question  of  the  bold  personification 
here,  and  metaphor  must  also  be  conceded  in  that  the  imagina- 
tion is  appealed  to,  a  picture  is  painted,  and  the  thought  may 
readily  be  amplified  into  a  simile. 

Farther  on  in  the  soliloquy,  in  the  expression,  "There  the 
prisoners  are  at  ease  together,"  the  words  themselves  may  be 
literal,  but  the  thought  expressed  is  not;  for  the  expression  is 
not  merely  an  added  detail  to  the  picture ;  it  is  also  an  extension 
of  the  metaphoric  thought.  In  chapter  28,  the  passage  "  They 
hang  afar  from  men,  they  swing  to  and  fro.  As  for  the  earth, 
out  of  it  cometh  bread ;  and  underneath  it  is  turned  as  it  were 
by  fire,"  etc.,  is  admittedly  a  literal  description  of  the  miners 
at  work,  and  a  contrast  between  the  surface  of  the  earth,  peace- 
fully cultivated,  and  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  ransacked  for  gold 
and  jewels.  But  the  whole  section  is  metaphoric, — a  com- 
parison between  wisdom  and  the  hidden  things  which  men  prize. 
Furthermore,  the  affirmation  about  God,  that  "  He  withholdeth 
the  waters,  and  they  dry  up:  again  He  sendeth  them  out,  and 
they  overturn  the  earth,"1  reads  like  a  direct  statement,  and  may 
be  an  allusion  to  the  flood ;  yet  in  reality  it  is  a  concrete  picture 
to  express  a  conception  of  deity  and  providence.  The  expres- 
sion "When  the  morning  stars  sang  together,  and  all  the  sons 
of  God  shouted  for  joy,"  occurs  among  a  series  of  questions,  and 
might  in  part  be  taken  as  a  literal  statement.  It  reads  like  a 

^ob  12:  15. 


36  METAPHORS   IN   BOOK   OF    JOB. 

direct  utterance.  To  those  simple  peoples  the  statement  that 
"The  sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy,"  made  perhaps  a  literal 
appeal;  but  it  addresses  the  imagination,  giving  another  detail 
with  purpose  to  aid  the  mind  in  picturing  the  author's  abstract 
idea. 

We  find  that  the  profusion  of  metaphor  in  Job  is  an  added 
revelation  of  oriental  wealth  in  tropes.  TheJBible  is  replete 
with  figures.  In  the  prophets  we  have  rhapsody;  in  Ecclesi- 
astes,  repetition ;  in  the  Canticles,  symbols ;  and  in  all  parables, 
similes,  and  metaphors  no  end.  This  pictorial  method  of  speech 
prevails  among  the  Semitic  people  to-day,  as  it  did  of  old  when 
"without  a  parable  spake  he  not  unto  them."  It  is  not,  how- 
ever, peculiarly  characteristic  of  the  Semite  in  literature,  but  of 
the  orientals  in  general.  The  Aryan  too,  was  both  ornate  and 
specific.  Persian  and  Hindu  literature  abound  with  pictur- 
esque appeals  to  the  imagination.  Job  allies  itself  with  the 
Rubaiyat,  the  Shah  Nameh,  the  Gulistan;  the  Yedas  and  the 
Ramdyana,  and  the  Mahabharata, — in  giving  evidence  that  ori-  J 
ental  literature  abounds  in  figures  of  speech. 

Although  the  East  was  old  before  the  West  was  young,  yet 
in  some  particulars,  the  oriental  is  always  child- 
*        .  ish.     He  has  never  outgrown  the  second,  if  he 

Abstract  ^as  ^e  ^rs*  s^aSe  °^  the  metaphor.     Though  he 

Thinking.  maJ  ge^  far  enough  to  say  one  thing  is  like 

another,  he  seldom  speaks  directly,1  to  describe 
the  thing  as  it  is  in  itself.  X  Job  with  its  wealth  of  metaphor 
reveals  the  fact  that  the  Semite  thought  in  figures.  It  is  more  t 
than  a  fashion  of  speech  when  Job  says  that  his  steps  are  washed 
with  butter,  and  that  the  rocks  pour  him  out  rivers  of  oil ;  that 
his  root  is  spread  out  on  the  waters ;  that  God  in  His  anger  has 
lifted  him  up  to  the  wind  and  caused  him  to  ride  upon  it,  and 
has  dissolved  him  in  the  storm.  To  Job  it  is  more  than  a  pic- 
ture, it  is  reality,  when  he  asks,  "  Am  I  a  sea  or  a  sea  monster 
that  He  setteth  His  watch  upon  me  ? "  The  oriental  does  not 
write  metaphysics,  he  personifies,  he  dramatizes.  He  uses 
'Buck,  "Metaphor." 


INDUCTIONS  FROM  STUDY  OF  PART  II.        37 

neither  logic  nor  philosophy;  he  employs  metaphor  and  sym- 
bolism. The  Bible  is  not  a  philosophical  treatise  or  scientific 
work;  it  is  literature.  The  author  of  Job  has  chosen  to  per- 
sonify his  thought,  to  dramatize  his  feeling,  and  to  express  both 
thought  and  feeling  in  simile  and  metaphor.  Nowhere  does  he 
state  his  conclusions  as  abstractions,  but  continually  says  or 
implies  "  It  is  like," — 

The  fact  that  the  metaphors  are  essentially  pictorial,  suggests 

the  Semitic  realization  of  their  mnemonic  value, 
(c)  Their  Aid     ™        ,  xl_  .    ,.A 
to  Memory         I hough  their  literature  was  in  some  cases  written, 

the  manuscripts  were  of  necessity  few,  and  de- 
pended upon  oral  repetition  for  their  promulgation.  In  some 
cases  a  work  was  thus  handed  down  from  generation  to  genera- 
tion, and  afterwards  inscribed  on  parchment.  The  myths  finally 
incorporated  in  .Genesis  were  repeated  from  age  to  age  before 
they  were  finally  reduced  to  writing,  but  such  a  work  as  Job 
was  written,  then  learned  and  repeated.  The  tax  on  the  power 
of  memory  was  lessened  materially  by  the  frequent  use  of  meta- 
phor. Its  pictures  could  be  easily  retained  in  the  Hebrew  mind, 
trained  as  it  was  to  repeat  the  proverbs  and  the  parables. 

The  metaphors  in  their  profusion  reveal  the  childlike  nature 

of  the  ancient  Hebrew:  not  only  was  their 
'  '  memory  stimulated,  but  their  interest  was  aroused 

j  .        .  by  the  pictorial  in  speech.     Metaphor,  hyperbole, 

exclamation,  interrogation  kept  the  mind  of  the 
hearer  constantly  on  the  alert  and  compelled  attention.  There 
is  not  one  dull  sentence  from  beginning  to  end.  Job's  author 
was  a  writer  of  hohkmah  (  noan  )  literature,  but  instead  of  dry 
theory  he  propounded  vitalized  problems  invested  with  per- 
sonality, by  means  of  comparison,  direct  or  implied. 

2.  GEOGRAPHICAL  INDICATIONS. 

The  figures  then,  in  their  abundance,  in  their  concrete  pre- 
sentation of  abstract  ideas,  in  their  recognition  of  mnemonic 
value,  and  in  their  vivid  compulsion  of  interest,  reveal  char- 
acteristics of  the  oriental  mind  and  of  oriental  literature.  They 


38  METAPHORS   IN   BOOK   OF   JOB. 

also  emphasize  the  fact  that  the  ancient  sage  who  wished  so  to 
present  his  teachings  as  to  make  them  vivid,  readily  understood, 
and  easily  remembered,  was  an  oriental.  Do  they  point  to  a 
more  definite  conclusion,  and  reveal  the  locality  in  which  he 
lived  or  in  which  he  set  his  poem  ?  This  broad  general  state- 
ment may  be  made  at  least:  that  the  author  was  an  Irsaelite, 
familiar  with  Egypt  and  perhaps  with  Babylon,  who  wrote  for 
Israelites,  and  located  his  hero  and  the  scene  of  his  story  outside 
of  Palestine.  We  know  that  the  tenor  of  his  thought  was 
Israelitish  for  in  Genesis,  2 :  7,  we  read  that  "  God  formed  man 
from  the  dust  of  the  ground,"  and  Job  says:  "Remember,  I 
beseech  thee  that  thou  hast  made  me  as  clay  "  ;*  and  "  I  also 
am  formed  out  of  clay."2  In  Gen.  2:  7,  we  read  that  "God 
breathed  into  man's  nostrils  the  breath  of  life,"  and  the  author 
of  the  book  of  Job  says  "  The  spirit  of  God  is  in  my  nostrils,"3 
and  "  the  breath  of  the  Almighty  has  given  me  life."4  "  Dust 
thou  art,  and  unto  dust  shalt  thou  return"  (Gen.  3:  8)  is  re- 
peated in  the  words :  "  and  man  shall  return  again  unto  dust."5 
None  but  an  Israelite  would  be  likely  to  say  "  O  earth,  cover  not 
thou  my  blood,  and  let  my  cry  have  no  resting  place,"  for  only 
he  would  have  in  mind  "  the  voice  of  thy  brother's  blood  crieth 
unto  me  from  the  ground"  (Gen.  4:  10,  11).  Further  sug- 
gestive parallels  are  to  be  found  in  the  pictures  of  the  cave 
dwellers,  Job.  30 :  6-8  (compare  Gen.  19 :  30)  ;  of  the  murderer 
and  the  adulterer,  Job.  24:  14,  15  (compare  Exodus  20)  ;  the 
sending  of  rain,  Job  37:  13  (compare  I  Kings,  17:  1  and  18: 
1)  ;  the  whirlwind,  Job  31 : 11,  40 :  6  (compare  I.  Kings  19 : 11) 
and  the  destruction  of  the  army,  Job  34 :  20  (compare  II.  Kings 
19:  35).  All  these  prove  the  author  to  be  familiar  with  the 
lore  of  the  Israelites. 

Not  only  do  these  metaphors  show  the  formative  influence  of 
Israelitish  didactic  history,  but  they  reveal  also  the  influence  of 

JJob  10:   9. 
8  Job  33:  36. 
•Job  27:  3. 
4  Job  33:  4. 
6  Job  34:   15. 


INDUCTIONS   FROM   STUDY   OF   PART  II.  39 

Israelitish  locality.  In  II.  Sam.  23 :  20,  and  in  I.  Ch.  11 :  22, 
we  read  that  "  Benaiah  of  Kabzeel  slew  a  lion  in  the  midst  of 
the  pit  in  time  of  snow."  Job,  in  seeking  a  simile  for  his 
friends'  disloyalty,  finally  draws  his  comparison  from  a  source 
which  shows  him  to  be  an  Israelite.  He  says  "  My  friends  have 
dealt  deceitfully  as  a  brook,  as  the  channel  of  brooks  that  pass 
away ;  which  are  black  by  reason  of  ice,  wherein  the  snow  hideth 
itself;  what  time  they  wax  warm,  they  vanish;  when  it  is  hot 
they  are  consumed  out  of  their  place."1  The  caravans  coming 
by  the  brooks  full  of  ice,  thought  of  necessity  that  their  sources 
were  inexhaustible,  and  so  followed  them;  but  the  oriental  sun 
melted  the  ice  and  dried  up  the  streams.  Such  a  phenomenon 
could  have  occurred  only  in  Palestine.2  In  that  strange  tropical 
country,  where  a  man  could  go  into  the  mountain  and  kill  a  lion 
in  the.  day  of  snow,  Job  found  a  concrete  picture  to  express 
what  he  thought  of  his  friends.  "/He  declared  them  to  be  like 
those  brooks,  for  when  he  was  prosperous,  their  love  promised 
to  be  enduring;  and  when  adversity  came  upon  him  their  love 
was  consumed.*  In  chapter  40 :  23,  the  author  shows  that  Israel 
to  him  was  not  merely  a  locality,  but  a  reality  by  using  the  name 
of  the  Jordan  without  the  article,  figuratively  for  any  large 
stream.3 

That  this  Israelite  was  familiar  with  Egypt,  may  be  inferred 
from  the  fact  that  he  draws  several  of  his  metaphors  from  Egyp- 
tian sources.  In  chapter  8:  11,  he  asks:  "  Can  the  rush  grow 
without  mire?  Can  the  flag  grow  without  water?"  In 
chapter  9 :  25,  he  compares  the  brevity  or  swiftness  of  life  to 
ships  of  reed.  The  word  H2K  refers  to  the  boats  or  skiffs  made 
of  papyrus  of  the  Nile,  in  common  use  among  the  Egyptians, 
and  Ethiopians  and  famous  for  their  lightness  and  swiftness.5 
These  references  together  with  the  pictures  of  the  ostrich,  39 : 13, 

aJob  6:   15-17. 

2  Compare  Geo.  Adam  Smith,  "  Hist.  Geo.  of  Palestine,  p.  65. 

3  Budde  Comm.  in  loco. 
*  Gesenius,  p.  32.    ifltf. 

'Gesenius,  p.  4. 


40  METAPHORS   IN   BOOK   OF   JOB. 

the  warhorse  39 :  18-30,  the  hippopotamus,  40 :  15—24,  and  the 
crocodile  41, — not  to  mention  the  phoenix,1  29 :  18, — are  enough 
to  show  the  author's  familiarity  with  Egypt.  He  was  evidently 
acquainted  with  Babylon,  for  although  the  reference  to  Rahab, 
27:  12;  9:  13  may  refer  to  the  Babylonish  myth  of  the  sea 
monster  (compare  Isa.  27:  1)  or  to  Egypt,  which  is  elsewhere 
referred  to  under  the  image  of  a  sea  monster  (Ex.  29 :  31 ;  Isa. 
51:  9),  he  distinctly  pictures  the  fate  of  the  wicked  in  terms 
of  the  king  of  Babylon  (of  Job  18:  17-20;  Isa.  14:  9-22,  in 
which  two  passages  only  are  kith  and  kin  mentioned  together). 

The  author,  familiar  as  he  was  with  Egypt  and  Babylon, 
further  shows  his  Israelitish  temperament  and  training,  by 
locating  Uz  outside  of  Palestine.  All  good  did  not  emanate  from 
that  land :  when  the  prophets  had  some  enlarged  view  of  truth 
to  propound  they  laid  the  scene  of  their  story  outside  the  Holy 
Land.  Elijah,  the  prophet,  was  fed  by  a  widow  of  Sarepta,  a 
city  of  Sidon,2  Naaman,  the  Syrian  was  cured  of  leprosy;3 
Jonah  was  sent  to  Nineveh.4  So  the  author  of  the  book  of  Job, 
located  his  hero,  an  upright  and  perfect  man  in  the  land  of  Uz, — 
near,  perhaps,  yet  outside  of  Palestine,  probably  to  the  south. 
Gesenius  believes  the  region  to  have  been  in  the  northeastern 
part  of  the  Arabia  Deserta,  between  Iduma,  Palestine  and  the 
Euphrates.5  Wetzstein  in  the  appendix  to  Delitsch's  Com- 
mentary, locates  it  in  Hauran,  because  of  a  tradition  that  Job 
dwelt  there.  But  from  the  reference  to  the  marauding  bands 
of  Sabeans  and  Chaldeans  that  fell  upon  Job's  servants  and 
cattle,  and  from  the  fact  that  Job's  three  friends  came  from 
Teman,  Shuh  and  Naamath,  respectively,  Uz  would  seem  to 
have  been  located  by  the  author  farther  south  than  Hauran. 
Teman,  noted  for  wisdom  ( Jer.  49 :  7)  was  no  doubt  the  seat  of 
the  orthodox  doctrine,  which  the  author  wished  to  refute;  and 
as  Teman  was  in  Edom  (Gen.  36:  15;  Jer.  49:  20),  he  laid 

1  Gesenius,  p.  300.    fa. 

*  I.  Kings  7 :   9. 

s  II.  Kings  5:14. 

*  Jonah  1 :  2. 

*  Gesenius,  p.  761,  and  Thesaurus,  p.  1003.    Vty 


INDUCTIONS    FROM    STUDY   OF   PART   II.  41 

the  scene  of  his  story  near  Edom  to  account  for  the  visit  of 
Eliphaz.  This  theory  is  in  accord  with  Lamentations,  4:  21: 
"Be  glad,  O  daughter  of  Edom  that  dwellest  in  the  land  of 
Uz,"  and  with  the  Septuagint,  which  locates  Uz  in  the  border  of 
Edom  and  Arabia,1  This  locality  is  furthermore  indicated  by 
all  those  metaphors  in  Job  whose  sources  are  caravans,2  brooks,3 
and  mountains4  But  even  in  his  metaphors,  the  author  gives 
no  definite  proof  of  exact  locality,  and  this  is  one  great  testi- 
mony of  the  skill  with  which  he  took  the  familiar  story  of  Job 
and  recreated  the  atmosphere  of  the  patriarchal  age. 

3.  INDICATIONS  OF  DATE. 

The  fact  that  the  author  is  consciously  writing  of  earlier 
times,  and  is  drawing  his  metaphors,  as  far  as  possible,  from  the 
patriarchal  age  he  recreates,  makes  it  difficult  to  determine  the 
date  of  its  composition.  But  a  study  of  the  metaphors  is  signifi- 
cant in  this  connection.  No  less  an  authority  than  the  Ency- 
clopedia Britannica  (Davidson)  says  :  "  The  question  of  the  date 
of  the  book  of  Job  has  to  be  settled  largely  by  a  comparison  of 
literary  coincidences  and  allusions."  In  studying  the  meta- 
phors to  this  end  we  must  distinguish  between  those  that  came 
to  the  author  unsought  —  the  product  of  his  experience  and  his 
learning,  —  and  those  framed  with  the  purpose  of  giving  patri- 
archal color  to  his  work.  A  conscious  effort  to  give  a  setting 
earlier  than  the  age  of  Solomon  would  explain  such  passages  as 
the  following  :  There  shall  dwell  in  his  tent  that  which  is  none 
of  his  :  brimstone  shall  be  scattered  upon  his  habitation.5  The 
piece  of  money  given  to  Job6  was  the  ancient  Kesitah  of  Genesis 
33:  19.  Job  is  made  to  say  "Oh,  that  my  words  were  now 
written  !  That  with  an  iron  pen  and  lead  they  were  graven  in 
the  rock  forever."7  Here  the  author  presents  his  thought  in 

1  Job  42  :    17.     Sept.  b.  lv  fiev  yn  naroinuv  TJJ  'Avffiirdi  em  roif  opioic  'Idovuatc 


2  Job  6:   19,  21. 

»  Job  14:   11;  28:   11. 

*Job  T4:   18;  24:   7,  8. 

«Job  18:   15. 

«  Job  42:   11. 

'Job  19:  23. 


42  METAPHORS   IN   BOOK   OF    JOB. 

figures  drawn  from  an  early  age.  He  further  keeps  up  the 
fiction  of  the  nomadic  period  by  the  metaphors  of  the  witness,1 
the  sponsor,2  the  surety3  and  the  goel4  (Leviticus  25 :  41). 

It  is  not  however  such  metaphors  as  these  that  throw  light 
upon  the  date.  But  a  study  of  those  drawn  from  the  manners 
and  customs  known  to  the  author,  when  compared  to  similar 
metaphors  found  in  books  of  known  date,  indicates  that  Job 
was  possibly  written  between  the  tenth  and  the  sixth  centuries 
B.  C.,  that  it  could  not  have  been  written  earlier  than  the  age 
of  Solomon,  and  was  probably  written  as  late  as,  or  after  the 
Captivity.  Though  the  picture  of  primitive  non-Israelitish 
life  is  well  maintained,  the  author  has  in  many  cases  drawn 
his  illustrations  from  manners,  customs  and  literature  of  a  later 
date.  Job  says ;  "  What  is  man  that  thou  shouldst  magnify 
him,  and  that  thou  shouldest  visit  him  every  morning  ?  "5  and  the 
reflection  here  of  the  ideas  in  Psalm  VIII.  can  scarcely  be  due 
to  coincidence. 

The  metaphor  of  the  "  gold  of  Ophir  among  the  stones  of  the 
brook  "6  and  of  Wisdom  that  "  It  cannot  be 

10th  Century  va^ue^  w*tn  tne  8°^  °^  Ophir"7  would  seem  to 
indicate  the  age  of  Solomon  as  the  very  earliest 
time  in  which  the  book  could  have  been  written.  Several  meta- 
phors found  in  Job  and  also  in  Proverbs  would  tend  to  sub- 
stantiate the  induction  that  the  book  of  Job  could  not  have  been 
written  before  the  reign  of  Solomon :  for  example,  "  How  oft  is 
the  lamp  of  the  wicked  put  out  ?  "8  bears  a  very  close  likeness  to 
the  same  figure  in  Prov.  13 :  9,  "  The  light  of  the  wicked  shall 
be  put  out,"  and  in  Prov.  24 :  20,  "  The  candle  of  the  wicked 
shall  be  put  out."  The  metaphor  in  Job  is  no  doubt  built  upon 
the  expressions  in  Proverbs.  Proverbs  8 :  29  speaking  in  meta- 

*Job  4:  13. 
2  Job  6:  19. 
•Job  17:  3. 
•Job  19:  25. 
5  Job  7:  17. 
•Job  22:  25. 
'Job  28:  16. 
s  Job  21 :  7. 


INDUCTIONS    FROM    STUDY   OF    PART   II.  43 

phor  of  the  sea  says  "  When  he  set  a  compass  upon  the  face  of 
the  deep;  when  he  gave  to  the  sea  its  decree,  that  the  waters 
should  not  pass  his  commandment."  But  in  Job  38 :  10  the 
metaphor  is  much  more  complete:  "Or  shut  up  the  sea  with 
doors,  when  it  brake  forth,  as  if  it  had  issued  out  of  the  womb ; 
when  I  made  the  clouds  the  garment  thereof,  and  thick  darkness 
a  swaddling  band  for  it  and  marked  out  for  it  my  bound,  and  set 
bars  and  doors,  and  said,  Hitherto  shalt  thou  come,  but  no 
further ;  and  here  shall  thy  proud  waves  be  stayed."  From  the 
concreteness  and  poetic  beauty  of  this  passage  it  would  seem  that 
it  must  have  been  written  later  than  the  one  in  the  book  of 
Proverbs.  The  same  conclusion  is  suggested  by  a  comparison 
of  Job,  28  with  Proverbs  1-9.  For  in  Proverbs  wisdom  loves 
them  that  love  her  and  may  be  embraced  by  them ;  but  in  Job  it 
can  nowhere  be  found,  neither  by  man  nor  any  creature ;  death 
and  destruction  have  only  heard  a  rumor  thereof.  Two  such 
opposing  representations  can  hardly  be  contemporaneous,  and 
that  in  Job's  with  its  skepticism,  no  doubt  belongs  to  a  later 
period  of  the  world's  development  and  experience. 

These  comparisons  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  Job  belongs  to 

a  period  later  than  the  tenth  century.  Davidson 
The  Earlier  -g  Q£  ^  Opinjon  that  it  must  not.  however,  be 
Prophets,  8th  ,  .  .  ,  ,  ,  ,,  .,  ,, 

_  _   -      assigned  to  a  period  later  than  the  seventh  cen- 

Century  B.  0. 

tury:  an  opinion  that  is  confirmed  by  a  further 

comparison  with  the  prophets.  Amos  2 :  9,  says  "  Yet  destroyed 
I  the  Amorites  before  them,  whose  height  was  like  the  height  of 
the  cedars  and  he  was  strong  as  the  oaks;  yet  I  destroyed  his 
fruits  from  above  and  his  roots  from  beneath."  Job  says:1 
"  His  roots  shall  be  dried  up  from  beneath,  and  above  shall  his 
branches  be  cut  off."  In  Amos  4:  13,  God  is  said  "  to  tread 
upon  the  high  places  of  the  earth."  Micah  1 :  3  uses  the  same 
language ;  in  Job2  the  thought  is  translated  into  "  He  treadeth 
upon  the  waves  of  the  sea  " ;  but  in  the  Hebrew  the  same  word 
appears  as  it  does  also  in  Isa.  14 :  14.  In  Amos  5 :  8,  God  is 

'Job  18:   16. 
2Job  9:  8. 


44  METAPHORS   IN   BOOK   OF   JOB. 

said  to  have  made  "  the  seven  stars  and  Orion  "  which  is  ampli- 
fied in  Job1  to  read  "  That  maketh  the  Bear,  Orion  and  the 
Pleiades,  and  the  chambers  of  the  south." 

In  Hosea  5 :  14  God  is  conceived  as  a  lion  tearing  Ephraim, 
a  metaphor  that  is  used  in  Job.2  Furthermore,  the  only  direct 
simile  from  scripture  which  the  tables  show  in  Job  31:  33  is 
found  also  in  Hosea  6:  7.  Hosea  says  they  shall  be  as  the 
morning  cloud,  and  as  the  early  dew  that  passes  away,  13:  3. 
Job  says:  "My  root  is  spread  out  to  the  waters,  and  the  dew 
lieth  all  night  upon  my  branches,"  29 :  19.  Here  we  find  in 
both  a  close  observation  and  love  of  nature.  In  Micah  1 :  8,  we 
have  the  same  metaphor  as  in  Job  30 :  29,  "I  am  a  brother  to 
jackals;  a  companion  to  ostriches."  The  making  of  oil  is  re- 
ferred to  in  both  Micah  and  Job  under  much  the  same  condi- 
tions. (Job  24 :  11,  Micah  6:15.) 

Although  these  comparisons  between  the  metaphors  in  Job 
and  those  in  the  earlier  prophets  lead  to  no  definite  conclusion, 
they  do  at  least  show  the  probability  that  the  author  of  the  book 
of  Job  was  familiar  with  these  prophecies.  When  we  compare 
the  similes  and  metaphors  with  those  in  the  first  Isaiah  we  see 
that  there  is  a  very  probable  acquaintanceship  with  the  work  of 
that  prophet  for  there  is  almost  direct  allusion3  to  the  prayer  of 
Hezekiah,  Is.  38.  Hezekiah  is  recorded  as  saying  "  Mine  age 
is  removed  as  a  shepherd's  tent ;  I  have  cut  off  like  a  weaver,  my 
life  " ;  and  Job  also  speaks  of  the  tent  cord's  being  plucked  up, 4 
and  uses  the  metaphor  of  the  weaver's  loom.5  But  we  are  led 
to  the  conclusion  that  this  is  not  the  familiarity  of  a  contem- 
porary. The  phrasing  "My  transgression  is  sealed  up  in  a 
bag"6  in  its  amplification  is  probably  later  than  Hosea's  way 
of  putting  the  thought :  "  The  iniquity  of  Ephraim  is  bound  up, 
his  sin  is  hid."  Moreover  Job  12:  17-25,  is  evidently  later 

1  Job  9:  9. 

«  Job  16:  9;  18:  4. 

»  Job  7 :  9,  10. 

*  Job  4:  21. 

« Job  4:  7;  7:  6. 

•Job  14:  17. 


INDUCTIONS    FROM    STUDY   OF   PART   II.  45 

than  Isaiah  19:  11-14.  In  Job  the  words:  "The  waters  fail 
from  the  sea,  and  the  stream  decayeth  and  drieth  up"1  are 
scarcely  even  a  modification  of  Isaiah  19 :  5 :  "  and  the  waters 
shall  fail  from  the  sea^  and  the  stream  shall  decay  and  dry  up  " ; 
but  the  thought  so  clothed  is  less  primitive.  In  the  prophet 
"  the  sea  "  is  the  Nile,  and  "  the  stream  "  either  the  river  or  its 
larger  branches,  and  the  verse  is  closely  connected  with  the  con- 
text which  contains  a  threat  against  Egypt.  In  Job,  however, 
the  term  "  sea  "  is  used  of  any  inland  water,  and,  by  extension 
the  words  are  made  to  express  a  general  fact  of  experience,  which 
finds  a  parallel  in  the  complete  extinction  of  the  life  of  man.2 
Job  asks,  "  Am  I  a  sea,  or  a  sea  monster  that  thou  settest  a  watch 
over  me  ?  "3  He  speaks  of  those  who  are  skillful  in  rousing  up 
leviathan,  and  says  that  "  The  helpers  of  Rahab  do  stoop  under 
him."4  These  interesting  metaphors  are  used  in  Is.  27:  1 
(which  may  be  a  late  prophecy).5  And  in  Isaiah  51:  9,  as 
follows :  "  In  that  day  the  Lord  with  his  great  and  strong  sword 
shall  pierce  leviathan,  serpent  elusive,  and  leviathan,  serpent 
tortuous;  and  he  shall  slay  the  dragon  that  is  in  the  sea.  Art 
thou  not  he  that  hath  cut  Rahab  and  wounded  leviathan  ? " 
If  Job  then,  shows  in  its  metaphors  an  acquaintance  with  the 
literature  of  Amos,  Hosea,  Isaiah  and  Micah  and 
7th  C  an  extension  °f  their  thought,  it  is  safe  to  con- 

clude that  it  is  a  work  of  later  date  than  the 
eighth  century.  A  consideration  of  its  metaphoric  relation  with 
Jeremiah  may  make  a  more  definite  induction  possible.  The 
facts  that  Jeremiah  ended  his  days  in  Egypt,  that  he  cursed  his 
day  ( Jer.  20 :  14-18)  in  much  the  style  of  Job  3 :  3-10,  that  his 
writings  show  a  love  for  nature,  have  led  Wright  to  suggest  that 
Jeremiah  was  the  author  of  the  book  of  Job  (see  his  Com- 
mentary on  Job).  Some  of  the  pictorial  metaphors  which  the 
prophecies  of  Jeremiah  have  in  common  with  the  book  of  Job 

'Job  14:   11. 

2  Driver,  p.  435. 

•Job  7:   12. 

'Job  9:   13. 

•  Geo.  A.  Smith,  "  Isaiah,"  p.  430. 


46  METAPHORS   IN   BOOK   OF   JOB. 

may  be  noted  as  follows :  Jer.  24,  gives  the  symbol  of  "  A  wild 
ass  used  to  the  wilderness  that  snuffeth  up  the  wind  at  her 
pleasure,  in  her  occasion  who  can  turn  her  away  ? "  Job's  pic- 
ture of  the  same  animal  is : 

"  He  scorneth  the  tumult  of  the  city, 
Neither  heareth  he  the  shoutings  of  the  driver, 
The  range  of  the  mountains  is  his  pasture, 
And  he  searchest  after  every  green  thing."  1 

Jeremiah  8 :  6,  7  says :  "  Every  one  turned  to  his  own  course,  as 
the  horse  rushes  into  the  battle.  Yea,  the  stork  in  heaven 
knoweth  her  appointed  time ;  but  my  people  know  not  the  judg- 
ment of  the  Lord."  Job  makes  use  of  the  picture  of  the  war- 
horse  : 

"Hast  thou  given  to  the  horse  his  might? 

Hast  thou  clothed  his  neck  with  the  quivering  mane? 

Hast  thou  made  him  to  leap  as  the  locust? 

The  glory  of  his  snorting  is  terrible. 

He  paweth  in  the  valley,  and  rejoiceth  in  his  strength: 

He  goeth  out  to  meeet  the  armed  men. 

He  mocketh  at  fear  and  is  not  dismayed; 

Neither  turneth  he  back  from  the  sword. 

The  quiver  rattleth  against  him, 

The  flashing  spear  and  the  javelin, 

He  swalloweth  the  ground  with  fierceness  and  rage; 

Neither  standeth  he  still  at  the  voice  of  the  trumpet. 

As  oft  as  the  trumpet  soundeth  he  saith,  Aha! 

And  he  smelleth  the  battle  afar  off, 

The  thunder  of  the  captains,  and  the  shouting."2 

He  uses,  as  well,  the  stork; — "The  wings  of  the  ostrich  wave 
proudly ;  but  are  they  the  pinions  of  a  stork  ?  "8  Jer.  10 :  13, 
expresses  in  germ  the  description  of  the  storm  used  in  Job.4 
Jeremiah  asks  (15:  18)  "Why  is  my  pain  perpetual  and  my 
wound  incurable,  which  refuseth  to  be  healed?  Wilt  thou  be 
altogether  unto  me  as  a  liar,  and  as  waters  that  fail  ? "  and  Job 
declares,  "  My  brethren  have  dealt  deceitfully  as  a  brook,"5  and 

>Job  39:  5-8. 

2  Job  39:   19-25. 

«  Job  39:   13. 

<  Job  36:  27-37:  22. 

6  Job  6:   15. 


INDUCTIONS    FROM    STUDY   OF   PART   II.  47 

"ye  are  forgers  of  lies;  ye  are  all  physicians  of  no  value."1 
The  same  metaphor  is  used,  Jer.  20 :  7,  and  Job  12 :  4,  to  the 
effect  that  "  I  am  in  derision  daily,  every  one  mocketh  me." 
Jeremiah  says,  Ch.  17 :  1,  "  The  sin  of  Judah  is  written  with  a 
pen  of  iron :  it  is  graven  upon  the  tablet  of  the  heart " ;  and  Job 
exclaims,  "  That  with  an  iron  pen  and  lead  they  were  graven  on 
the  rock  forever !  ":  Moreover  the  figurative  language  of  Sam. 
3 :  5-7 :  "  He  hath  hedged  me  about  that  I  cannot  pass,  he  hath 
built  against  me  with  gall  and  travail,  he  hath  set  me  in  dark 
places,"  is  echoed  in  Job,  "  He  hath  walled  up  my  way  that  I 
cannot  pass,  and  hath  set  darkness  in  my  paths."3 

Further  interesting  comparisons  may  be  made  of  Lamenta- 
tions 3 :  14,  with  Job  30 :  9  ;  Lamentations  3 :  11-14 ;  Job  6:4; 
16:  12;  16:  13;  19:  13-22. 

Lamentations  and  Job  alike  make  symbolic  use  of  the  bows, 
the  arrows  and  the  mark ;  and  so  close  is  the  connection  between 
the  two  that  there  may  be  a  pun  on  the  work  '"Q?P  > — mark  and 
prison  (Jeremiah  32:  2). 

The  allusion  to  land  marks4  finds  its  parallel  in  Deut.  19 :  14, 

27 :  17,  and  the  metaphorical  reference  to  moon 
Deuteronomy:  ,.  5  .  ,,  ,,  „  -,  ..  »  T\ 

worship    might  well  mid  its  source  in  Deut  4: 

19;  17:  3-7.  Job's  thought  in  31:  19  is  perhaps  based  on 
Deut.  22 :  22. 

We  have  seen  that  the  metaphors  Rahab  and  Leviathan  found 
...  .  .  in  Job  appear  also  in  the  second  Isaiah  51 :  9,  and 

27:1.  Other  references  will  show  that  the  con- 
ceptions in  Job  are  not  foreign  to  the  later  portions  of  Isaiah's 
prophecy.  The  expression  "  The  hand  of  the  Lord  hath  done 
this  "  occurs  Isa.  41 :  20  and  Job  12 :  9.  The  same  lofty  con- 
ception of  God  is  expressed  in  both  in  identical  words :  "  Who 
spreadeth  out  the  heavens  alone."  Job  9 :  8,  and  Is.  45 :  12. 
There  is  also  in  Isa.  44 :  24,  the  germ  of  the  metaphor,  the  work 

'Job  13:  4. 
2  Job  19:  24. 
8  Job  19:  8. 

4  Job  24:  2. 

5  Job  31:   26. 


48  METAPHORS   IN   BOOK   OF   JOB. 

of  the  potter,  elaborated  in  Job  10 :  8.  The  simile  of  the  rotten 
and  motheaten  garment  is  found  Job  13 :  28,  and  Isa.  50 :  9. 
The  prophet  says :  "  They  trust  in  vanity  and  speak  lies ;  they 
conceive  mischief  and  bring  forth  vanity.  They  weave  the 
spider's  web,"  Is.  59 :  14.  Job  says,  "  They  conceive  mischief, 
and  bring  forth  iniquity,  and  their  heart  prepareth  deceit,"1 
and  elsewhere  Job  uses  the  metaphor  of  the  spider's  web.2 

The  similarity  of  the  metaphors  in  the  book  of  Job  has  thus 
been  shown  with  the  metaphors  in  Hebrew  literature  from  the 
time  of  David  in  the  eighth  Psalm,  down  through  the  reign  of 
Solomon  and  the  early  prophets  to  the  age  of  Hezekiah,  Jere- 
miah and  Deuteronomy,  to  the  exile  of  Judah  and  the  capture 
of  Babylon  by  Cyrus,  538  A.  D.  It  might  be  claimed  that  the 
writers  of  these  books  were  familiar  with  Job,  and  used  the 
conceptions  of  its  author,  were  it  not  for  the  facts  that  in  Job, 
the  principles  securely  acquiesced  in  by  the  people  of  the  age  of 
Solomon,  have  become  problems  painfully  agitated,  and  that  a 
condition  of  disorder  and  misery  forms  a  background  of  the 
poem.  Job's  author  is  of  an  age  that  thinks,  questions  and 
protests.  We  feel  that  in  the  pictures  therein  presented,  the 
details  are  too  distinct  and  in  too  full  relief,  to  be  the  mere  re- 
flections of  a  gloom  enshrouding  a  primitive  condition  of  society. 
We  see  a  man  who  is  bitter  in  soul  and  longs  for  death  that 
cometh  not  though  he  search  for  it  more  than  for  hid  treasures ; 3 
a  man  whose  days  are  as  the  days  of  a  hireling,  doing  a  time  of 
hard  service  upon  the  earth  ;4  a  God,  who  covers  the  faces  of  the 
judges  of  the  earth,5  so  that  the  tabernacles  of  robbers  prosper, 
and  they  that  provoke  God  are  secure,  they  who  carry  their  gods 
in  their  hands ; 6  we  know  that  out  of  the  city  the  dying  groan, 
and  the  soul  of  the  wounded  crieth  out;  yet  God  regardeth  not 
the  wrong.7  We  cannot  but  see  that  the  writer  lived  not  in  a 

i  Job  15 :  35. 
«  Job  8:  14. 
»  Job  3:20. 
«  Job  7:  1. 
6  Job  9 :  24. 
«Job  12:  6. 
'  Job  24:  12. 


INDUCTIONS   FROM    STUDY   OF   PART   II.  49 

time  of  mute  acceptance,  that  a  later  period  had  been  reached. 
It  would  almost  seem  that  a  time  of  exile  were  behind  the 
passage,  "He  leadeth  counsellors  away  stripped"1  for  it  cer- 
tainly conveys  a  picture  of  wide  and  varied  experience  and  an 
advanced  state  of  society. 

The  strongest  argument  for  the  correspondence  in  date  be- 
tween the  book  of  Job  and  the  late  portions  of  Isaiah,  from  the 
point  of  view  of  this  essay,  is  the  metaphor  of  Job  himself;  a 
man  serving  Jehovah  not  for  reward  but  for  the  joy  and  fel- 
lowship of  the  service.  Such  a  metaphor  would  certainly  be 
full  of  meaning  to  the  Jews  in  time  of  captivity.  At  any  rate 
there  are  some  points  in  common  between  Job  and  the  servant 
of  the  Lord  in  Isaiah.  Both  are  innocent  sufferers  (cf.  Job 
1:  8  with  "my  righteous  servant" — Is.  53:  4);  both  are 
afflicted  in  a  way  that  srikes  horror  to  the  beholders,  and  causes 
them  to  deem  them  smitten  of  God  (Is.  52 :  14,  53 :  4)  ;  both  are 
forsaken  of  men  and  subjected  to  mockery  and  spitting  (Job 
19:  4,  16:  10,  30:  9;  Is.  50:  6,  53:  3)  ;  both  are  restored  and 
glorified  and  receive  double  (Job  13:  18,  16:  19,  19:  25;  Is. 
50:  8,  53:  11  and  12).2  Certainly  some  relation  is  suggested 
here  between  the  two  figures.  Granting  the  righteous  servant 
to  be  a  metaphor  for  the  godly  remnant  of  righteous  Israel,  and 
Job  a  type  for  the  righteous  individual  sufferer,  then  we  have 
the  probability  that  the  author  of  one  picture  transferred  some 
features  from  the  canvas  of  his  predecessor  to  his  own.  If  the 
collective  or  national  representation  in  Israel  has  served  as  the 
model  for  the  individual  portrait  in  Job,  then  Job  would  be 
later  than  the  restoration.  We  have  seen  that  Job  and  II. 
Isaiah  have  much  in  common.  It  is  difficult,  however,  to  be- 
lieve that  the  solution  of  the  problem  of  suffering  innocence 
given  in  Job,  could  be  posterior  to  the  more  profound  solution 
found  in  the  prophet.  The  probability  is  that  the  two  authors 
worked  up  common  conceptions  into  independent  creations. 

1  Job  12:   17. 

2  Cheyne,  "Isaiah  II.,"  p.  244;  Davidson,  "Job  LXVL";  Driver,  Intro., 
p.  435. 


50  METAPHORS    IN   BOOK   OF   JOB. 

This  would  make  the  date  of  the  book  of  Job  about  the  time 
of  the  composition  of  Isaiah  40-61. 

4.  LIGHT  THAT  THE  METAPHORS  THROW  UPON  THE 
UNITY  OF  THE  BOOK. 

The  critics  have  advanced  three  distinct  theories  as  to  the 

unity  of  the  book.     First :  That  it  is  the  work  of 
Theories: 

several  authors  of  different  epochs,  who  from  time 

to  time,  gave  added  development  to  the  old  folk-lore  story  of  the 
prose  portion.  Second:  That  the  cycles  and  the  Jehovah 
speeches  are  the  work  of  one  man ;  but  that  the  speeches  of  Elihu 
were  added  by  a  later  hand ;  that  the  mining  lyric,  "  Where  shall 
wisdom  be  found  ? "  is  an  independent  poem ;  and  that  the  de- 
scriptions of  Behemoth  and  Leviathan  are  additions.1  The 
third  theory  is  that  the  book  as  it  stands  to-day  is  practically  the 
work  of  one  author.  This  theory  claims  that  the  author,  wish- ' 
ing  to  present  a  view  of  life  opposed  to  the  orthodox  Teman 
school  of  thought,  either  took  an  old  legend,  as  Shakespeare  did 
in  many  cases,  just  because  it  was  familiar,  and  altered  and 
enlarged  that  story  to  suit  his  purpose,  or  made  an  entirely 
imaginative  creation  of  the  character  of  Job.  Those  who  hold 
this  theory,  however,  agree  with  all  in  admitting  some  misplac- 
ing of  the  order  of  the  speeches  in  the  third  cycle,  they  also  grant 
some  corruptions  of  the  text,  but  insist  upon  the  practical  unity 
of  the  book  as  it  stands,  arguing  that  the  mind  which  could  give 
expression  and  artistic  form  to  Job's  curse,  would  not  be  satisfied 
with  any  former  work  until  it  had  felt  the  touch  of  his  own 
reshaping  hand.2 

This  theory  is  the  one  which  receives  corroboration  from  the 
metaphors ;  for  in  the  figurative  language  of  the  disputed  por- 
tions there  is  nothing  which  would  tend  to  discredit  their  in- 
tegrity. Grant  that  behemoth  and  leviathan  are  strange  crea- 
tures, and  are  described  at  greater  length  than  are  the  animals 
in  the  accepted  portions.  Grant  that  Elihu  is  not  introduced 

1  Basting's  Bible  Diet.;  Cheyne's  Bible  Diet. 
*  Encyl.  Brit. 


INDUCTIONS   FROM    STUDY   OF   PART   II.  51 

into  the  prose  portions  or  the  three  cycles,  and  that  the  Elihu 
portion  is  of  a  different  character  from  the  rest  of  the  work. 
Grant  too,  that  the  mining  lyric  does  give  the  commentator 
trouble.  Yet  these  objections  would  not  be  sufficient  to  break 
up  the  unity  of  a  classic  in  any  language  other  than  Hebrew, 
the  medium  for  controversial  theology. 

Why  should  the  hippopotamus  and  the  crocodile  be  excluded 

from    the    original    text?     They    are    certainly 
-Behemoth  .n  „    ,  .      . 

and  Leviathan  S1^nincant  °*  tne  author's  purpose,  if  that  pur- 
pose was  to  encourage  the  exiles  in  Babylon. 
Those  exiles  might  easily  infer  from  these  descriptions,  that  if 
Jehovah  had  oversight  and  power  to  control  the  monsters  of 
Egypt,  he  would  have  the  power  also  to  protect  and  deliver  his 
chosen  people  from  Babylon  as  he  had  from  Egypt.  True,  the 
descriptions  of  behemoth  and  leviathan  are  longer  and  differ  in 
several  respects  from  the  descriptions  of  the  other  animals,  but 
these  creatures  were  less  familiar  to  the  people  and  therefore 
needed  a  more  graphic  account.  The  presentation  of  them  is, 
just  as  true  to  nature  as  the  other  pictures,  the  same  important- 
truths  are  selected  and  dwelt  upon,  and  the  object  of  their  intro- 
duction is  the  same  worthy  end.  Picturesqueness,  terseness  and 
power  mark  these  as  they  do  the  other  character  sketches  in  the 
work.  The  similes  used  to  give  an  idea  of  the  hippopotamus,, 
are  appropriate  and  in  harmony  with  the  others  in  the  book.. 
Their  sources  like  those  of  many  others  are  minerals,  trees,  and 
rivers.  The  bones  of  the  hippopotamus  are  said  to  be  as  tubes 
of  brass,  the  limbs  like  bars  of  iron.1  The  lotus  tree  and  the 
willows  give  local  color.  Even  the  apparently  incongruous 
figure  of  the  tail,  moving  like  a  cedar,  was  probably  to  the  people 
of  that  day,  congruous,  and  meant  something  entirely  different 
from  what  it  does  to  us  who  read  it  now. 

The  descriptions  of  leviathan,  like  that  of  the  other  animals, 

is  commenced  by  a  series  of  ironical  questions.     The  touches  of 

humor  in  the  words :  "  Wilt  thou  bind  him  for  thy  maidens  ? " 

making  him  a  ladies'  pet  upon  a  string, — and  in  the  reminder 

1  Job  40:   18. 


52  METAPHORS   IN   BOOK   OF   JOB. 

of  the  consequences  following  a  pat  upon  his  back, — "  Remember 
the  battle  and  do  so  no  more/7  are  not,  the  critics  however  to  the 
contrary,  out  of  place.  In  this  description,  the  metaphors  are, 
for  the  most  part,  drawn  from  sources  used  elsewhere  in  the 
poem.  The  mill-stone,  the  pot  and  the  threshing  sledge,1  are 
new,  but  elsewhere  appears  the  figurative  use  of  the  eyelids  of 
the  morn,2  of  torches,3  of  stones,4  of  straw,  stubble,  doors  and 
pot-sherds. 

The  only  objection  to  the  validity  of  the  Elihu  speeches,  of 
importance  to  this  paper,  is  the  contention  that  in 
literary  art,  this  portion  does  not  bear  comparison 
with  the  rest  of  the  book.  True,  the  language  of  the  young 
Elihu  is  flowery  and  self  conscious.  True,  he  uses  compara- 
tively few  original  figures,  drawn  from  a  limited  number  of 
sources:  wine,  song,5  food,6  mirror,  storm, — and  copies  his  other 
illustrations  from  Job7  or  from  the  dream  of  Eliphaz.8  But 
do  these  facts  bespeak  absence  of  literary  art  ?  Rather  do  they 
prove  the  touch  of  the  artist  hand,  when  one  realizes  that  they 
reveal  the  youthfulness  of  Elihu.  His  boyishness  is  very 
wordy,  for  he  takes  fifty-four  lines  in  order  to  say  that  he  is 
about  to  open  his  mouth,  because  his  breast  is  as  new  wine  which 
hath  no  vent,  like  new  wine  skins  ready  to  burst.  Viewed  in 
the  light  of  interpretation  of  youth,  this  portion  speaks  for  the 
poet's  art ;  an  art  which  also  reveals  itself  in  the  description  of 
the  storm.  Certainly  this  description  is  as  well  done  as  any 
picture  in  the  poem,  and  affords  a  dramatic  climax  which  is  at 
once  a  final  suspense  and  denouement,  which  it  would  be  a  pity 
to  lose. 

It  might  be  said  in  this  connection  that  the  prose  portion  has 
also  been  disputed,  for  the  same  reason  that  Elihu  is  objected 

'Job  41:15. 
2Job  3:   9. 
'Job  12:   5. 
4  Job  6:    12. 
'Job  35:   10. 
•Job  34:   3. 

7  Job  33:  4,  6,  10,  11,  13. 

8  Job  33:   15. 


INDUCTIONS    FROM    STUDY   OF    PART   II.  53 

to ;  that  it  adds  nothing  to  the  debate  on  the  question  of  suffer- 
ing. If,  however,  the  Prologue  is  indeed  an  introduction,  and 
the  life  of  Job  is  an  answer  to  Satan's  question:  "Does  Job 
serve  God  for  naught  ?  "  then  Elihu  makes  for  unity,  for  he, 
in  harmony  with  the  three  friends,  presents  a  false  motive  for 
service ; — getting  instead  of  giving, — as  opposed  to  Job's  motive 
in  his  sonnet  on  wisdom,  wherein  his  soul  is  ever  turning,  as  the 
needle,  to  the  absolute  good.1 

Other  works  than  this  may  have  proved  the  probability  that 
.  the  mining  lyric  is  not  an  interpolation.  W.  M. 

-  .  Flinders  Petrie2  in  Recent  Discoveries  in  Sinai, 

gives  mining  details  that  serve  to  restore  the  liv- 
ing conditions  pictured  in  the  sonnet  in  question.  The  burden 
of  proof  that  the  lyric  is  an  interpolation,  must  rest  with  those 
who  would  exclude  it  from  the  poem.  In  it  there  is  certainly 
nothing  which  reveals  a  lack  of  harmony  with  the  rest  of  the 
poem.  On  the  contrary  the  closing  metaphor  of  the  rain,  the 
lightnfng  and  the  thunder,  would  tend  to  bring  it  into  unity  with 
the  rest  of  the  poem.3  Furthermore,  its  symbolism  is  closely 
related  to  Job's  earlier  metaphor.  "After  thou  hast  tried  me 
I  shall  come  forth  as  gold."4 

Further  light  is  thrown  upon  the  unity  of  the  book  by  con- 
sidering the  nature  of  the  figurative  language  of 

the  various  parts.  Such  a  consideration  leads  to 
Characteristics. 

the   following  suggestive  observations:    (1)    In 

every  one  of  the  disputed  portions,  though  a  few  similes  and 
metaphors  are  especially  appropriate  to  the  section  in  which  they 
appear,  some  are  drawn  from  sources  used  in  other  divisions,  and 
one  or  two  echo  what  has  gone  before  and  suggest  what  is  to 
follow.  In  fact  a  thread  of  unity  runs  through  the  figures. 
(2)  The  prose  portions  are  comparatively  free  from  figurative 
expressions.  Job's  curse  is  highly  personified.  Metaphors  and 
similes  vivify  the  body  of  the  poem.  Repetition  characterizes  the 

1  Genung,  "  Epic  of  the  Inner  Life,"  and  Budde,  "  Job." 

2  Harper's  Mag.,  February,  1906,  p.  440. 

•Comp.  Davidson,  Driver,  Genung,  Cheyne  and  Budde. 
4  Job  23:   10. 


54  METAPHORS   IN   BOOK   OF   JOB. 

speech  of  verbose  young  Elihu ;  and  interrogation  is  the  appro- 
priate figure  used  in  the  Jehovah  speeches.  Surely  the  conclu- 
sion is  not  amiss  that  all  these  are  characteristic  manifestations 
of  one  mind,  which  would  feel  the  appropriateness  of  literal 
prose,  of  decorated  poetry  and  of  verbose  youth;  and  which 
would  furthermore  feel  that  more  stimulus  to  thought  lies  in 
question  than  in  mere  declaration.  These  characteristics  speak, 
not  only  for  unity,  but  also  for  individuality  of  authorship. 

5.  METAPHORS  OF  THE  SEVERAL  SPEAKERS. 

~No  matter  what  conclusion  is  reached  as  to  the  unity  of  Job, 
the  literary  art  is  acknowledged  by  all  critics. 

Their  Artistic    ^.^    he  f  g    hocle&  Dante   Shakespeare 

Significance. 

or  Goethe,  the  art  of  Job  in  no  wise  depends  upon 

feminine  charm.  Here  is  no  Antigone,  no  Beatrice,  no  Cor- 
delia, Hermione,  Desdemona,  Imogene,  Rosalind,  or  Perdita,  no 
Marguerite  to  add  the  magic  of  exquisite  womanhood  to  the 
spell  of  the  work.  The  characters  are  men,  and  in  their  por- 
trayal add  no  poetic  charm.  They  do,  however,  add  force  to 
the  theme,  and  reality  to  the  story,  and  give  evidence  of  artistic 
workmanship.  Eliphaz  the  Temanite,  Bildad  the  Shuhite,  Zop- 
har  the  Naamathite,  Elihu  the  Buzite,  Job  himself,  live  before 
us  in  the  intensity  of  their  words.  Even  the  figures  they  em- 
ploy reveal  individuality.  In  their  sources,  or  in  their  hand- 
ling, the  metaphors  seem  to  partake  of  each  speaker's  personality. 
This  cannot  be  mere  accident  of  workmanship.  It  must  be  de- 
sign,— a  design  that  is  added  evidence  of  the  probable  unity  of 
authorship,  and  is  also  evidence  of  a  finished  art,  for  it  is  hardly 
necessary  to  say  that  in  such  painstaking  details  the  author 
reveals  the  shaping  hand  of  a  master  workman. 

If  the  writer's  interest  had  been  given  merely  to  the  presenta- 
tion  of  Job's   opposition   to   the   doctrine   that 

e     utnor  s     righteousness  is  always  attended  by  prosperity, 
Interest  in  .      J  J  J' 

Character-  e  ^  ca^ami^y?  ne  need  have  created  only  one 
ization.  antagonist,  Eliphaz  the  Temanite.  True  the 

number  three  had  its  symbolic  importance,  but 
this  use  of  symbolism  need  not  have  extended  beyond  the  cycle 


INDUCTIONS   FROM    STUDY   OF   PART   II.  55 

structure.  Its  manifestation  in  the  number  of  friends  is  evi- 
dence of  the  author's  interest  in  character  portrayal.  He 
created  three  types  of  men  to  give  expression  to  one  school  of 
thought.  Their  creed  was  one,  but  clothed  itself  in  a  symbolism 
distinctive  of  each  speaker. 

In  his  attempt  to  uphold  the  Teman  school  of  thought,  Eliphaz 
Eliphaz  claims  the  divine  origin  of  intuition,  and  appeals 

to  the  evidence  of  dreams : 

"In  thoughts  from  the  visions  of  the  night: 
When  deep  sleep  falleth  on  men, 
Fear  came  upon  me,  and  trembling, 
Which  made  all  my  bones  to  shake. 
Then  a  spirit  passed  before  my  face; 
The  hair  of  my  flesh  stood  up. 

It  stood  still,  but  I  could  not  discern  the  appearance  thereof; 
A  form  was  before  my  eyes : 
There  was  silence,  and  I  heard  a  voice."  * 

This  is  really  metaphorical  in  being  a  concrete  picturing  of 
Eliphaz's  emotion  and  thoughts.  In  this  way  he  hopes  to  estab- 
lish the  infallibility  of  the  Teman  philosophy,  to  show  that  it  is 
divinely  inspired.  What  this  doctrine  is  he  sets  forth  in  two 
metaphors,  drawn  from  agriculture  and  from  the  animal  king- 
dom. He  says  that  "  they  that  plow  iniquity  and  sow  trouble, 
reap  the  same,"2  and  asserts  that  the  lions,  living  by  evil  are 
destroyed,  and  their  whelps  are  scattered  abroad.3  These  pic- 
tures are  striking  and  easily  remembered  and  give  the  sum  of 
the  accepted  teachings  of  Teman,  with  almost  proverbial  force. 
Eliphaz  further  expounds  his  doctrine  of  reaping  whatsoever  is 
sown,  by  saying  "Affliction  cometh  not  forth  from  the  dust, 
neither  doth  trouble  spring  out  of  the  ground."4  It  is  not  native 
to  the  soil,  for  "  Man  is  born  unto  trouble,"  only  because  he  does 
wrong,  and  so  seeks  affliction  as  the  sparks  fly  upward.5 

These  and  other  figures  show  Eliphaz  to  be  the  man  of  refined 

Mob  4:   13-16. 

2  Job  4:   8. 

3  Job  4:   10,  11. 
•Job  5:  6. 

6  Job  5:   7. 


56  METAPHORS   IN   BOOK   OF   JOB. 

thought.     He  speaks  of  the  body  in  terms  of  architecture,  saying 
he  chargeth  with  folly — "  them  that  dwell  in  houses  of  clay, 

Whose  foundation  is  the  dust, 
Who  are  crushed  before  the  moth! 

Is  n.ot  their  tent  cord  plucked  up  within  them  ?  "  * 

He  speaks  of  the  heights  of  heaven ;  of  God  as  a  treasure,  as 
precious  silver,  and  as  the  ffold  of  Ophir ;  of  crafty  men ;  of 
snares ;  and  of  the  finished  product  cut  off  from  the  loom.2  All 
these  metaphors  of  Eliphaz,  not  only  in  their  source,  hut  even 
more  in  their  rendering,  are  appropriately  used  by  the  author  to 
portray  the  clear  visioned  seer,  the  highest  type  of  man. 

The  speeches  of  Bildad  and  Zophar  would  show  these  same 
reflective  characteristics,  if  they  were  designed  merely  to  in- 
terpret the  author's  views  of  the  Teman  philosophy.  But  if 
they  reveal  different  traits,  they  indicate  that  the  writer  did 
more  than  ponder  over  men's  theories:  that  he  was  a  student 
of  men's  selves:  that  in  Eliphaz,  Zophar,  Bildad,  he  gave  con- 
crete expression  to  the  fact  of  every  man's  being  a  variant  of  the 
creed  he  professes.  Eliphaz,  rebuking.  Job  from  the  Teman 
standpoint,  was  a  man  of  refined  intellect.  Do  the  metaphors 
ascribed  to  Bildad  and  Zophar,  show  these  characters  to  be  mere 
reflections  of  his  personality  ? 

The  tenor  of  Bildad's  thought  is  like  that  of  Eliphaz,  showing 

_..,  the  same  belief  that  reward  and  punishment  are 

Bilaaa.  .  -11 

in  direct  ratio  to  deserving;  but  the  men  them- 
selves are  unlike.  Even  in  rebuking,  Eliphaz  shows  a  certain 
sweet  reasonableness:  he  is  the  seer  who  believes  in  visions,  to 
whom  God's  purpose  is  directly  revealed.  Bildad  too  is  a  seer, 
but  there  enters  into  his  argument  some  of  the  elements  of  which 
his  name  may  be  intentionally  significant.  He,  more  than 
Eliphaz,  is  "  the  son  of  strife."  Eliphaz's  first  protest  is  with- 
out personal  attack  upon  Job ;  having  more  the  nature  of  pitying 
appeal  than  of  rebuke.  Bildad's  first  speech,  on  the  other  hand 

'Job  4:   19,  21. 
2Job  4:   7. 


INDUCTIONS   FROM   STUDY   OF    PART   II.  57 

is  a  straightforward  blew,  en4m^4t4&-tnie,  with  a  more  gentle 
touch,  a  more  tender  promise  for  the  future.  He  believes  in 
first  rousing  through  the  counter-irritant  of  scorn,  and  then 
soothing  with  a  healing  tenderness.  Even  his  promise,  how- 
ever, though  meant  tenderly  for  Job,  shows  Bildad  to  be  the 
"  quarreler,"  in  phophesying  that 

"  He  will  yet  fill  thy  mouth  with  laughter, 
And  thy  lips  with  shouting; 
They  that  hate  thee  shall  be  clothed  with  shame."1 

His  ground  for  quarrel  with  Job,  is^that  the  man  of  Uz 
does  not  accept  the  wisdom  of  the  fathers.  Whereas  Eliphaz, 
true  to  his  name,  "  God  his  strength,"  bases  his  faith  on  divine 
inspiration,  Bildad  is  unswerving  in  his,  because  of  tradition : 

"  For  inquire  I  pray  thee  of  the  former  age, 
And  apply  thyself  to  that  which  their  fathers  have  searched  out. 
(For  we  are  but  of  yesterday,  and  know  nothing, 
Because  our  days  upon  earth  are  a  shadow)  ; 
Shall  not  they  teach  thee  and  tell  thee, 
And  utter  words  out  of  their  heart  ? "  * 

And  with  what  symbols  does  he  illustrate  the  traditions  he 
accepts?  He  too,  goes  to  the  world  of  growing  things,  and  to 
the  animal  kingdom.  The  sources  of  his  illustrations  unite  his 
thought  with  that  of  Eliphaz ;  but  the  actual  images  reveal  his 
individuality.  His  fancy  does  not  picture  the  tilled  field,  but 
the  rush  growing  without  mire,  the  flag  without  water.  Nor  is 
it  "  the  roaring  of  the  lion  "  "  the  voice  of  the  fierce  lion  "  and 
"  the  teeth  of  the  young  lion  "  that  symbolize  evil,  to  him.  It  is 
the  more  subtle  spider,  with  which  he  compares  the  godless 
man. 3  Like  Eliphaz,  Bildad  borrows  figures  from  the  tent,  but 
whereas  Eliphaz  had  made  use  of  it  to  show  things  as  they  were, 
— "  Is  not  their  tent  cord  plucked  up  within  them  ? "  Bildad 
gives  the  figure  prophetic  force, — "  and  the  wicked  shall  be  no 
more."4  In  fact  though  both  have  the  seer's  love  of  prophecy, 

'Job  8:  8,  10. 

2  Job  8 :  8,  10. 

s  Job  8 :  14,  15. 

*  Job  8 :  22. 


58  METAPHORS   IN   BOOK   OF   JOB. 

Bildad  shows  the  trait  to  a  far  greater  extent.  He  is,  undoubt- 
edly, a  seer  whose  doctrine  is  the  doctrine  of  Eliphaz,  but  con- 
ditioned by  the  character  of  Bildad :  made  forceful  with  quarrel- 
some scorn,  and  illustrated  by  figures  which  show  difference  of 
character  rather  than  of  thought. 

It  may  be  said  that  these  two  characters  are  only  slightly  dif- 
ferentiated, but  it  cannot  be  disputed  that  Zophar 
represents  an  entirely  different  type.  He  is  no 
sage  justifying  his  views  at  the  outset,  by  ascribing  them  either 
to  inspiration  or  to  the  wisdom  of  the  fathers.  He  gives  no 
reason  whatever  for  maintaining  the  orthodox  teaching.  He 
does  however,  like  Eliphaz  and  Bildad,  draw  his  first  metaphor 
from  the  animal  kingdom,  his  choice  being  the  wild  ass.  This 
animal  is  so  in  harmony  with  Zophar' s  utterances,  as  to  convict 
the  author  here  of  humorous  intent.  The  dream  of  Eliphaz  is 
recalled  by  Zophar,  but  only  to  suggest  how  differently  the 
symbol  is  handled.  Here  the  dream  has  no  force.  The  godless 

"  Shall  fly  away  as  a  dream,  and  shall  not  be  found : 
Yea,  he  shall  be  chased  away  as  a  vision  of  the  night."  * 

Even  this  slight  reference  to  a  vision  is  an  intellectual  meta- 
phor for  Zophar.  The  spiritual  and  thoughtful  Eliphaz,  the 
emphatic  Bildad,  representing  the  wise  who  sum  up  their  teach- 
ing in  rules,  could  not  have  conceived  the  unrefined^symbols  of 
Zophar  whose  interests  were  physical ,  rather  than  intellectual. 
Even  the  most  spiritual  and  thoughtful  of  his  metaphors  is 
physical :  "  And  thy  life  shall  be  clearer  than  noon-day ;  Though 
there  be  darkness  it  shall  be  as  the  morning."  Beautiful  as  this 
symbol  is,  its  appeal  is  still  to  the  physical  eyesight.  Elsewhere 
he  declares  that  the  wicked  man  "shall  perish  forever  like  his 
own  dung "  ;2  and  in  his  longest  metaphor  he  speaks  of  food 
being  sweet  in  his  mouth,  but  turned  in  his  stomach  and  vomited 
up.3  Most  of  Zophar's  metaphors  are  inelegant,  yet  they  are 
vivid  and  in  harmony  with  his  character,  not  of  a  seer,  but  of 
a  hot-headed  enthusiast,  typing  the  religious  bigot  who  asks : 

*Job  20:  8. 
•Job  20:  7. 
•Job  20:  12. 


INDUCTIONS  FROM  STUDY  OF  PART  II.        59 

"  Canst  thou  by  searching  find  out  God, 
Canst  thou  find  out  the  Almighty  unto  perfection  ? " l 

This  survey  of  the  speeches  of  the  three  friends  shows  that 
the  metaphors  reveal  both  a  delightful  harmony  and  variety. 
In  basic  thought  they  are  often  one;  in  expression,  they  are 
individual  and  characteristic. 

The  metaphors  assigned  to  Job  are  no  less  characteristic.  In 
j  ,  number  alone,  they  are  significant.  The  friends, 

representing  as  they  do,  different  embodiments  of 
established  thought,  have  their  illustrations  at  hand,  worked  out 
for  them  with  somewhat  the  force  of  proverbs.  A  compara- 
tively few  suffice  to  emphasize  Zophar's  thought,  since  it  has 
been  in  substance  the  thought  of  Eliphaz  and  Bildad  before 
him.  But  Job  is  departing  from  the  accepted  belief  of  Teman. 
His  reasoning  has  almost  the  daring  of  science,  and  in  true 
scientific  spirit  he  cites  instance  upon  instance.  As  the  modern 
scientist  reaches  generalizations  through  many  illustrations,  so 
Job  points  his  heresy  by  piling  metaphor  upon  metaphor, — but 
with  a  different  purpose.  The  scientist  wishes  to  convince  him- 
self of  truth,  Job's  purpose  is  to  convict  others  of  error.  Dar- 
win would  not  venture  to  draw  conclusions  even  about  so  slight 
a  principle  as  the  selection  exhibited  by  earth  worms,  till  he  had 
examined  two  hundred  and  twenty-seven  specimens  of  leaf 
mold; — but  this  was  the  scientist's  dread  of  haste  and  inac- 
curacy. Job  had  no  fear  of  inaccuracy ;  he  was  sure  of  his  re- 
bellion against  the  doctrine  of  Teman, — sure  because  of  his  long 
periods  of  introspection. 

Only  two  pieces  of  Hebrew  literature  are  introspective,  Job 

•/  J. 

and  Ecclesiastes.  Job,  as  the  earlier,  strikes  out  into  a  new 
and  untried  field.  The  author  has  phases  of  thought  and  feel- 
ing to  express,  which  are  new  to  the  people.  By  long,  inward 
searchings  he  has  reached  a  new  belief,  which  by  artistic,  liter- 
ary methods,  he  must  reproduce  in  the  minds  of  others.  So 
Job,  the  arch-heretic  from  the  Teman  school,  desiring  to  make 
his  thought  perfectly  clear,  states  it,  then,  in  further  explana- 
ijob  11:  7. 


60  METAPHORS   IN   BOOK   OF   JOB. 

tion,  piles  up  metaphor  upon  metaphor,  directly  stating  or  im- 
plying that  it  is  like  some  other  well  known  and  accepted  thing. 
To  give  Job's  heretical  thought  force  and  an  individuality  dif- 
ferent from  those  of  Eliphaz,  Bildad  and  Zophar,  the  author 
does  two  things :  (a.)  he  makes  many  new  applications  of  the 
metaphoric  sources  used  by  the  three  friends;  and  (&)  he  goes  to 
fields  untried  by  them. 

Job  is  alone,  though  with  his  friends.  And  how  impressively 
does  the  author  emphasize  his  solitude.  Job  first  makes  the 
generalization:  "Know  now  that  God  hath  subverted  me  in 
my  cause,1  and  "  (even  at  once  making  the  thought  metaphoric), 
"hath  compassed  me  with  his  net."  But  that  this  impression 
of  loneliness  may  not  be  the  transient  effect  of  a  solitary  cloud  on 
high,  the  shadow  of  the  moving  cloud  is  thrown  upon  the  dif- 
ferent spheres  of  life: 

"  My  way  is  fenced  in, 
Darkness  is  in  my  path, 
He  hath  taken  the  crown  from  my  head; 
:  My  hope  is  plucked  up  like  a  tree; 

His  wrath  is  kindled  against  me; 
He  counts  me  as  an  adversary, 
His  troops  come  on  together; 
They  cast  up  their  way  against  me, 
And  encamp  round  my  tent. 
My  brothers  are  far  from  me, 
My  acquaintances  are  estranged, 
My  kinsfolk  have  failed, 
My  familiar  friends  have  forgotten  me; 
Those  who  dwell  in  my  house  have  forgotten  me; 
My  maids  count  me  for  a  stranger. 
I  am  an  alien  in  their  sight; 
My  servant  will  not  answer  me, 
All  my  inward  friends  abhor  me, 
My  bones  cleave  to  my  skin  and  to  my  flesh, 
I  am  escaped  with  the  skin  of  my  teeth."* 

Could  we  possibly  produce  a  more  helpless  picture  of  pathetic 
solitude?  The  author,  by  this  symbolic  method,  leaves  not  a 

'Job  19:   6. 
2  Job  19:   8-20. 


INDUCTIONS  FROM  STUDY  OF  PART  II.        61 

single  escape  from  Job's  isolation.  He  is  the  most  alone  of  all 
figures  in  literature.  Even  CEdipus  and  Lear  in  their  wander- 
ings are  not  so  set  apart  from  their  fellows.  (Edipus  is  tenderly 
cared  for  by  Antigone,  Lear  by  the  humble  fool,  the  loyal  Kent, 
the  wronged  Cordelia ;  but  Job  is  absolutely  alone,  pathetically  > 
recognizing  it  in  the  words : 

"  My  breath  is  strange  to  my  wife, 
The  children  of  my  own  body  fear  me, 
Young  children  despise  me." l 

In  the  metaphors  of  Job  there  enters  not  only  a  pathos,  but 
a  tenderness  not  evident  in  the  characteristic  symbols  of  his 
friends.  His  solitude  is  a  mighty  compound  of  fearlessness,, 
outraged- worth  and  pathos.  He  curses  the  day  of  his  birth: 
"  Let  a  cloud  dwell  upon  it>"2  yet  he  knows  that  "  a  cloud  is 
consumed  and  vanished  away."3  What  a  sense  of  personal 
power,  ending  in  pathetic  impotency  does  he  express  in  such 
figures  as: 

"  Thou  liftest  me  up  to  the  wind, 
Thou  causest  me  to  ride  upon  it; 
And  thou  dissolvest  me  in  the  storm."* 

Job  is  the  great  protagonist;  he  measures  himself  with  digni- 
fied aloofness  and  a  sense  of  proud  hopelessness,  against  the  ac- 
cepted but  erroneous  teachings  of  Teman.  It  is  a  mighty  force 
against  which  he  pits  himself;  but  he  faces  it  with  a  bravery 
that  is  pathetic  in  its  recognition  of  ensuing  destruction : 

"  For  he  breaketh  me  with  a  tempest, 

And  multiplieth  my  wounds  without  cause,  .    ^ 

He  will  not  suffer  me  to  take  my  breath, 
But  filleth  me  with  bitterness. 
If  we  speak  of  strength,  lo,  he  is  mighty! 
And  if  of  justice,  who,  saith  he,  will  summon  me? 
Though  I  be  righteous,  mine  own  mouth  shall  condemn  me. 
Though  I  be  perfect,  it  shall  prove  me  perverse. 

i  Job  19:   17-18. 

*  Job  3:  5. 

*  Job  7 :  9. 

*  Job  30:  22. 


62  METAPHORS   IN   BOOK   OF    JOB. 

I  am  perfect;  I  regard  not  myself;  I  despise  my  life; 

It  is  all  one;   therefore  I  say 

He  destroyeth  the  perfect  and  the  wicked."1 

Yet  this  man  of  fearlessness  has  too  his  moments  of  black 
despair : 

"  I  am  like  a  rotten  thing  that  consumeth, 
Liike  a  garment  that  is  moth-eaten."8 

His  hopelessness  is  furthermore  impressed  by  metaphors  drawn 
from  the  vegetable  kingdom,  war,  prison  and  the  worthless 
things  of  nature,  and  the  sea.  His  feet  are  put  into  the  stocks."3 
He  "  cometh  up  like  a  flower  and  is  cut  down."4  His  fate  is 
even  more  hopeless  than  that  of  a  tree : 

"  For  there  is  hope  of  a  tree, 
If  it  be  cut  down  that  it  will  sprout  again, 
And  that  the  tender  branches  thereof  will  not  cease, 
Though  the  roots  thereof  wax  old  in  the  earth, 
And  the  stock  thereof  die  in  the  ground; 
Yet  through  the  scent  of  water  it  will  bud, 
And  put  forth  boughs  like  a  plant; 
But  man  dieth  and  is  laid  low, 
Yea,  man  giveth  up  the  ghost  and  where  is  he?  Wi 

As  if  this  figure  did  not  carry  with  it  hopelessness  enough,  the 
author  immediately  gives  further  force  to  Job's  despair,  with  an 
added  picture: 

"As  the  waters  fail  from  the  sea, 
And  the  river  wasteth  and  drieth  up; 
So  man  lieth  down  and  riseth  not; 
Till  the  heavens  be  no  more,  they  shall  not  awake, 
Nor  be  roused  out  of  their  sleep."  fl 

He  cuts  off  all  hope  from  despair,  with  Job's  symbols  of  ava- 
lanche and  flood. 

'Job  9:   17-22. 
'Job  13:  28. 
•Job  13:  27. 
*Job  14:  2. 
"Job  14:   7-10. 
«Job  14:   11,  12. 


INDUCTIONS    FROM    STUDY   OF    PART   II.  63 

"  But  the  mountain  falling  cometh  to  nought ; 
And  the  rock  is  removed  out  of  its  place; 
The  waters  wear  the  stone; 

The  overflowings  thereof  wash  away  the  dust  of  the  earth: 
So  thou  destroyest  the  hope  of  man." 

In  the  blackness  of  his  despair  Job  has  his  moments  of 
pathetic  appeal.     In  one  of  the  most  tender  of  all  figures  he 


"Wilt  thou  harrass  a  driven  leaf, 
And  wilt  thou  pursue  the  dry  stubble  ?  " 2 

Again,  in  utter  weariness,  he  beseeches  for  man  that  God  will 

"Look  away  from  him,  that  he  may  rest, 
Till  he  shall  accomplish,  as  a  hireling,  his  day."8 

Yet  he  has  too,  his  times  of  hope.  For  a  moment  he  is  sus- 
tained by  the  expectation  of  justification  beyond  the  grave.  It 
is  with  blended  impotency  and  hope,  he  exclaims : 

"Oh  that  my  words  were  now  written: 
Oh  that  they  were  inscribed  in  a  book; 
That  with  an  iron  pen  and  lead 
,They  were  graven  in  the  rock  forever: 
But,  as  for  me,  I  know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth 
And  at  last  he  will  stand  upon  the  earth."4 

One  other  magnificent  gleam  of  hope  finds  expression  in  the 
metaphor  of  the  change  of  guard,  Job  in  that,  appropriately 
recognizing  the  war  he  is  waging : 

"All  the  day  of  my  warfare  would  I  wait 
Till  my  release  should  come." 

There  is  still  a  brave  hope  that  the  end  will  be  release ;  and  this 
hope  finds  culminating  faith  in  the  mining  metaphor: 

"  When  he  hath  tried  me,  I  shall  come  forth  as  gold."  e 

1  Job  14:   18,  19. 

2  Job  13:  25. 
»Job  14:   6. 

*  Job  19:  23-25. 
«  Job  14:   14. 
e  Job  23:   10. 


METAPHORS    IN    BOOK   OF    JOB. 

All  Job's  many  and  complex  feelings  are  made  real  in  his 
marvelous  fashion  of  metaphor.  From  the  opening  curse  to  the 
oath  of  clearing,  he  stands  before  us  in  the  force  of  his  symbols. 
His  wrath  and  disgust  at  the  accusation  of  Eliphaz,  are  made 
evident  through  metaphor.  Trade,  war,  food  are  the  familiar 
sources  to  which  he  goes  to  emphasize  his  feelings.  His  sym- 
bols enforce  his  proud  contempt  for  the  injustice  done  him : 

"  Oh  that  my  vexation  were  but  weighed, 
And  all  my  calamity  laid  in  the  balance, 
For  now  it  would  be  heavier  than  the  sands  of  the  seas: 
Therefore  have  my  words  been  rash, 
For  the  arrows  of  the  Almighty  are  within  me, 
The  poison  whereof  my  spirit  drinketh  up: 
The  terrors  of  God  do  set  themselves  in  array  against  me. 
Doth  the  wild  ass  bray  when  he  hath  grass? 
Or  loweth  the  ox  over  his  fodder? 

Can  that  which  hath  no  savor  be  eaten  without  salt? 
Or  is  there  any  taste  in  the  white  of  an  egg? 
My  soul  refuseth  to  touch  them: 
They  are  as  loathsome  food  to  me."1 

Therefore  his  sense  of  unrighteous  oppression,  of  indignity, 
wrath  and  impotency,  must  find  words.  How  vivid  is  his  appeal 
to  our  sympathy  in  this  picturing  of  his  calamities,  laid  in  the 
balance  to  be  found  heavier  than  the  sands  of  the  sea;  of  his 
spirit  empoisoned  with  the  darts  of  the  Almighty;  of  his  power- 
less array  against  all  the  terrors  of  God!  Small  wonder  that 
his  "  words  have  been  rash !  "  Small  wonder  that  he  spurns  the 
Teman  theories  with  contemptuous  scorn !  They  are  as  loath- 
some food  to  him.  They  cannot  silence  him,  as  grass  and  fodder 
still  the  outcry  of  the  ass  and  the  ox.  They  are  without  salt  to 
give  them  savor ;  they  are  tasteless  as  the  white  of  an  egg.  His 
soul  "  refuseth  to  touch  them." 

Not  only  has  Job  scorn  for  the  theories  of  his  friends,  but  for 
their  false  friendship  as  well.  He  believes  they  have  failed 
him,  and  to  convict  them  of  betrayal,  he  is  again  figurative,  find- 
ing the  metaphors  at  hand  in  the  wadies  that  fail  after  the  rain : 

i  Job  6:  2. 


INDUCTIONS   FROM   STUDY   OF   PART   II.  65 

"My  brethren  have  dealt  deceitfully  as  a  brook, 
As  the  channel  of  brooks  that  pass  away; 
Which  are  black  by  reason  of  the  ice, 
And  wherein  the  snow  hideth  itself: 
What  time  they  wax  warm,  they  vanish; 
When  it  is  hot,  they  are  consumed  out  of  their  place; 
The  caravans  that  travel  by  the  way  of  them  turn  aside; 
They  go  up  into  the  waste  and  perish. 
The  caravans  of  Tema  looked, 
The  companies  of  Sheba  waited  for  them. 
They  were  put  to  shame  because  they  hoped; 
They  came  thither  and  were  confounded. 
For  now  ye  are  nothing."  * 

One  marvels  at  the  force  of  those  friends,  which  could  resist 
the  convicting  force  of  an  accusation  comparing  them  to  deceit- 
ful streams  that  dried  up  in  times  of  the  traveler's  sorest  need, 
betraying  the  caravan  of  Tema  and  of  Sheba,  which  "  looked  " 
and  "waited"  and  "hoped"  for  them,  only  to  be  confounded 
and  "  put  to  shame ! "  Job's  figure  here  gives  added  force  to  the 
personality  of  those  three  friends,  which  could  stand  the  deep 
damnation  of  the  culmination  of  this  figure :  Like  those  brooks 
"now  ye  are  nothing";  yet  unlike  them,  you  were  not  asked 
for  aid : 

"Did  I  say,  Give  unto  me? 
Or  offer  a  present  for  me  of  your  substance? 
Or  deliver  me  from  the  adversary's  hand? 
Or  redeem  me  from  the  hand  of  the  oppressors?"8 

He  confronts  them  not  only  with  the  rebuke  of  this  metaphor, 
but  in  a  magnificent  climax  of  contempt  assures  them : 

"No  doubt  but  ye  are  the  people, 
And  wisdom  shall  die  with  you"; 

Then  with  supreme  scorn,  he  calls  them  forgers  of  lies  who  weld 
falsehood  into  the  semblance  of  truth,  and  says  they  are  quack 
doctors, — "  physicians  of  no  value,"  who,  for  every  ill  have  but 
one  remedy :  "  be  humble." 

^ob  6:   15-21. 
2  Job  12:  2. 
'Job  13:  4. 


66  METAPHORS   IN   BOOK   OF   JOB. 

Yet  Job's  protests  are  not  merely  contempt  and  impotent  re- 
bellion. They  carry  the  weight  of  restless  desire  to  know  why 
he  suffers.  With  dignity  he  recognized  that  he  is  the  work  of 
God's  hands,  and  asks  that  he  may  "  take  comfort  a  little."  The 
dignified  "  why  "  breathes  through  the  figures  of  the  potter  and 
the  dairy,  with  which  he  emphasizes  the  injustice  that  created, 
merely  to  persecute  him.  "Is  it  good,"  he  asks : 

"  That  thou  should  despise  the  work  of  thy  hand  ? 
Remember  I  beseech  thee,  that  thou  hast  fashioned  me  as  clay; 
And  wilt  thou  bring  me  into  dust  again? 
Hast  thou  not  poured  me  out  as  milk, 
And  curdled  me  like  cheese, 
And  knit  me  together  with  bones  and  sinews  ?  " 1 

It  is  just  that  punishment  should  be  meted  out  for  evil: 

"If  I  be  wicked  woe  unto  me  "; 
but  why  should  the  innocent  suffer  ? 

"  If  I  be  righteous  yet  shall  I  not  lift  up  my  head." 2 

The  human  cry  to  be  echoed  centuries  later  in :  "  Oh,  why  hast 
thou  forsaken  me  ? "  finds  expression  in  Job's  "  Wherefore  then 
hast  thou  brought  me  forth  out  of  the  womb  ?"3 


"  Let  me  alone,  that  I  may  take  comfort  a  little, 
Before  I  go  whence  I  shall  not  return, 
Even  to  the  land  of  darkness  and  of  the  shadow  of  death."  * 

Job's  most  elaborately  developed  protest,  however,  is  not  a 
personal  one,  directed  against  his  individual  sufferings.  He 
confronts  the  Teman  school  with  minute  details  of  social  ills, 
concretely  picturing  the  phases  of  human  oppression.  Wifh 
confident  protest  he  affirms  that  "  God  regardeth  not  the  folly  " 
of  those  responsible  for  (a)  encroachments  following  the  removal 
of  landmarks;  (b)  the  resultant  formation  of  a  class  sinking 

*Job.  10:  3-9. 
'Job  9:   15. 
•Job  10:   18. 
4  Job  10:  20,  21. 


INDUCTIONS   FROM   STUDY   OF   PART   II.  67 

under  hardship  and  poverty;  (c)  the  intensification  of  this 
poverty  by  contrasting  contact  with  wealth;  (d)  the  crowding 
population  of  cities  and  the  violence  of  city  crime;  (e)  the  con- 
sequent rise  of  a  distinctly  criminal  class  whose  whole  existence 
is  a  warfare  against  the  light.1  "T"" 

Job  is  in  fact,  though  intensely  human  and  individual,  a  con- 
crete  embodiment  of  suffering  humanity.  In  all  literature  there 
does  not  breathe  a  more  complex,  nor  more  vital  character  than 
this  man  of  Uz,  whose  metaphors  bring  him  before  us  bruised, 
appealing  and  pathetically  suppliant,  yet  withal  sufficient,  scorn- 
ful and  fearless,  confronting  his  opponents  and  his  God,  with 
his  indomitable  spirit  and  his  bravely  protesting  "  why  ? " 

To  Job,  the  cloud  is  symbolic  of  the  shadow  in  which  he  lies ; 
_  ,  ,  and  with  appropriateness, — psychologic,  as  well 

as  tender, — it  is  out  of  the  cloud  that  Job's  com- 
fort comes.  The  author  takes  the  very  figure  he  had  created  to 
express  the  gloom  overshadowing  Job's  life,  and  converts  it  into 
the  medium  for  his  restitution.  Jehovah  speaks  "out  of  the 
whirlwind." 

In  the  Jehovah  speeches  it  is  the  author's  purpose  to  set  forth 
aspects  of  Diety,  especially  the  mystery  and  beneficent  tender- 
ness of  Providence,  to  show  that  the  evil  in  the  world  is  not  more 
marvelous  than  the  good.  His  method  here,  as  in  the  other 
speeches,  is  to  picture  the  invisible  in  terms  of  the  visible,  the 
unknown  in  terms  of  the  known;  and  he  chooses  metaphors 
suited  to  his  purpose.  In  his  desire  to  emphasize  God's  power, 
he  draws  his  picture  from  nature,  not  from  "  nature  red  in 
tooth  and  claw,"  but  from  those  more  tender  aspects  shown  in 
the  rain  falling : 

"  On  the  wilderness  wherein  there  is  no  man, 
To  satisfy  the  waste  and  desolate  ground; 
And  to  cause  the  tender  grass  to  spring  forth."4 

To  suggest  mystery  he  pictures  Jehovah  as  the  omniscient 
world  builder,  fastening  the  foundations  of  the  earth  upon  noth- 

1  Job  24:  2-17. 

2  Job  38:  26,  27. 


68  METAPHORS   IN   BOOK   OF    JOB. 

ing,  and  laying  the  corner  stone  thereof,1  but  adds,  to  emphasize 
loving  kindness,  that  when  this  was  done  "the  morning  stars 
sang  together,  and  all  the  sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy."2  The 
same  antithetical  effect  of  power  and  tenderness  is  produced  in 
the  metaphor  from  the  sea.  He  makes  Jehovah  say : 

"  I  marked  out  for  it  my  bounds,  and  set  bars  and  doors, 
And  said,  *  Hitherto  shalt  thou  come,  but  no  further ; 
And  here  shall  thy  proud  waves  be  stayed.'"3 

Here  might  is  portrayed,  but  what  tender  mercy  is  in  the  other 
member  of  the  figure  where  Jehovah  says : 

"  I  made  clouds  the  garments  thereof, 
And  thick  darkness  a  swaddling  band  for  it:" 

I  created  the  mighty  sea,  but  I  cared  for  it  as  for  a  tender  babe. 
The  daily  miracles  of  nature  were  fresh  and  spontaneous  to 
the  author  of  Job,  and  in  the  Jehovah  speeches,  it  suits  his 
purpose  to  dwell  upon  the  mystery  of  each  familiar  thing. 
Milton  is  content  to  note  the  marvel  of  the  dawn : — 

"  The  high  lawns  appear 'd 
Under  the  opening  eyelids  of  the  morn  "  ;* 

but  Jehovah  accounts  for  the  miracle : 

"  I  have  commanded  the  morning  since  thy  days  began, 
And  caused  the  dayspring  to  know  the  place; 
The  earth  is  illuminated  by  the  rising  sun, 
As  clay  is  changed  under  the  seal; 
And  all  things  stand  forth 
As  in  splendid  attire.6 

But  Job's  author  means  that  these  miracles  shall  not  be  lightly 
accounted  for.  A  mighty  sense  of  mystery  is  expressed  by  the 
pictures  of  God's  binding  the  cluster  of  the  Pleiades,  loosing  the 

1  Job  38 :  4-6. 

2  Job  38:   7. 

»  Job  38:   10,  11. 

*  Job  38:   9. 

*"Lycidas,"  lines  25,  26. 

«  Job  38 :   12,  14.     Gesenius,  p.  509. 


INDUCTIONS    FROM    STUDY   OF    PART   II.  69 

bands  of  Orion,  leading  forth  the  Mazzaroth1  in  their  season, 
girding  the  Bear  with  her  train,  walking  the  recesses  of  the  deep, 
entering  the  springs  of  the  sea,2  visiting  the  gates  of  death,3 
keeping  the  treasuries  of  the  hail  and  snow,4  arranging  for  the 
angle  of  lightning,5  pouring  out  the  bottles  of  heaven,  and 
attending  at  the  birth  of  ice,  "when  the  waters  become  like 
stones  and  the  face  of  the  deep  is  frozen."5 

But  this  providence  is  to  be  made  tender  as  well  as  mighty 
and  mysterious,  and  so  the  author  expresses  his  conception  of 
Jehovah's  sympathy  by  other  metaphors  from  nature:  of  wild 
goats, 

"  They  bow  themselves,  they  bring  forth  their  young, 
They  cast  out  their  pains;  " 

they  send  their  offspring  forth,  to  grow  up  in  the  open  field, 
after  they  become  strong;7  of  the  wild  ass,  who  has  been  sent 
forth  free  to  mate  his  home  in  the  wilderness : 

"And  the  salt  land  his  dwelling-place, 
He  scorneth  the  tumult  of  the  city, 
Neither  heareth  he  the  shoutings  of  the  driver";' 

He  refers  to  the  stupid  ostrich  who  has  not  enough  of  nature's 
instinct  to  guard  her  eggs  against  the  chance  foot-fall,  but  yet 
has  her  times  of  lifting  herself  on  high,  when  she  scorns  the 
horse  and  his  rider;  to  the  hawk,  soaring  southward;  to  the 
eagle  in  her  nest  on  the  inaccessible  eyrie ;  to  the  lioness  crouch- 
ing for  the  spring ;  to  the  raven  providing  for  its  open-mouthed 
young ;  and  to  the  war  horse  rejoicing  in  the  tumult  of  battle. 

Finally  the  author  combines  both  mystery  and  providence 
again  in  the  descriptions  of  Behemoth  and  Leviathan.  The  in- 

i  Job  38:  31,  32. 

*  Job  38 :  16. 

3  Job  38:  17. 

«  Job  38:  22. 

5  Job  38 :  24,  35. 

«  Job  38:  29,  30. 

'Job  39:  1-4. 

s  Job  39 :  5-8. 


70  METAPHORS    IN   BOOK   OF   JOB. 

ference  from  all  these  Jehovah  figures  is  clear,  —  suggestive 
of  awe  in  their  interrogative  form  alone:  God's  providence  is 
wonderful  and  altogether  past  finding  out.  His  works  show 
mystery,  might  and  tenderness.  The  evil  in  his  world  is  not 
more  mysterious  than  the  good. 

The  metaphors  have  shown  two  distinct  evidences  of  the 

author's  art,   revealing  in  selection  a  unifying 
The  Third  -,   .  ,     .  .-..  -  \ 

thread,  and,  in  rendering  a  mighty  power  of  char- 


acterization. Their  diversity  is,  however,  of 
greater  literary  value  than  their  similarity.  It  is  because  of 
their  portrayal  of  character  that  they  throw  suggestive  light 
upon  the  arrangement  of  the  disputed  third  cycle.  Almost 
every  critic1  has  applied  his  special  theory  to  the  rearrange- 
ment of  this  cycle.  But  even  the  test  of  versification  used  in 
the  Moulton  arrangement,  is  hardly  as  suggestive  as  one  based 
upon  indications  of  character  revealed  through  the  metaphors. 
By  this  test,  certain  portions  ascribed  to  Job  seem  properly, 
to  belong  to  Bildad.  The  passage  : 

"  Swiftly  they  pass  away  upon  the  face  of  the  waters  ; 
Their  portion  is  cursed  in  the  earth; 
They  turn  not  into  the  way  of  the  vineyards. 
Drought  and  heat  consume  the  snow  waters: 
80  doth  Sheol  those  that  have  sinned. 
The  womb  shall  forget  him; 
The  worm  shall  feed  sweetly  upon  him; 
He  shall  be  no  more  remembered; 
And  unrighteousness  shall  be  broken  as  a  tree. 
He  devoureth  the  barren  that  beareth  not, 
And  doeth  not  good  to  the  widow,"2 

which  is  now  included  in  Job's  reply  to  Eliphaz,  reveals  upon 
examination  many  similarities  to  the  sources  used  by  Bildad. 
The  simile  of  the  wicked  consumed  by  Sheol  as  drought  and 
heat  consume  the  snow  water,  is  from  the  same  source  as  that 
of  the  reed  and  flag  withered  by  drought  and  heat.3  Moreover, 

1  Cheyne,  Bickell,  Duhm,  Moulton. 
'Job  24:   18-21. 
'Job  8:    11,  12. 


INDUCTIONS   FROM    STUDY   OF    PART   II.  71 

this  use  of  Sheol  is  especially  related  to  Bildad's  figurative  use 
of  the  term,  "  The  king  of  terrors,"  1  for  these  two  passages 
stand  apart  from  the  rest  of  the  poem  in  connecting  thoughts  of 
Sheol  and  sin.  The  suggestion  of  unrighteousness  broken  as  a 
tree2  is  the  same  as  that  Bildad  has  in,  "His  roots  shall  be 
dried  up  beneath,  and  above  shall  his  branches  be  withered." : 
And  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  this  same  figure  bears  out  the 
idea  of  drought  and  heat.  Nor  is  this  all.  The  expression, 
"the  worm  shall  feed  sweetly  upon  him,"  Bildad  has  earlier 
put  metaphorically,  in  the  words : 

"  The  first  born  of  death  shall  devour  his  members  "  ;« 

and  the  expression,  "  He  shall  be  no  more  remembered," 5  seems 
to  have  found  its  source  in  the  figurative  language  of  Bildad's 
former  speeches: 

"  His  place  shall  deny  him,  saying,  I  have  not  seen  thee."6 

and, 

"  He  shall  have  neither  son  nor  son's  son  among  his  people." 7 

In  the  present  arrangement  of  the  book,  chapter  27:  7-23  is 
assigned  to  Job;  but  a  study  of  the  metaphors  found  therein, 
would  ascribe  it  to  Bildad.  For  instance:  "He  buildeth  his 
house  as  the  moth"  bears  a  very  close  relation  to  the  figure  of 
the  spider's  web,8  as  does  also  "the  booth  which  the  keeper 
maketh,  to  the  lattice  on  which  the  vine  climbs."  Bildad's 
earlier  thought  finds  reverberation  in 

"  Terrors  overtake  him  like  waters : 
A  tempest  stealeth  him  away  in  the  night,"10 

Job  18:   14. 
Job  24:  20. 
Job  18:   16. 
Job  18:   13. 
Job  24:   20. 
Job  8:   18. 
Job  18:   19. 
Job  8:   14. 
Job  8:   15. 
10  Job  27 :  20,  21. 


72  METAPHORS   IN    BOOK   OF    JOB. 

reechoing,  as  it  does,  his  simile  of  "  the  mighty  wind."  The 
words  here  ascribed  to  Job :  "  prepare  raiment  as  the  clay,"  9 
certainly  reflect  Bildad's  earlier  thought  of  being  "  clothed  with 
shame."2  Further  evidence  of  Bildad's  characteristics  of 
thought  appears  in  this  chapter  in  that  "  the  offspring  of  the 
wicked  shall  not  be  satisfied  with  bread,"  which  is  another 
rendering  of  his  confident  assertion  in  like  metaphor,  that  "  the 
strength  of  the  wicked  shall  be  hunger  bitten."3  There  is, 
moreover,  in  the  words : 

"  Men  shall  clap  their  hands  at  him, 
And  shall  hiss  him  out  of  his  place,"4 

a  summary  of  the  climax  in  Bildad's  second  speech,  wherein 
he  says: 

"He  shall  have  no  name  in  the  streets, 
He  shall  be  driven  from  light  into  darkness, 
And  chased  out  of  the  world,"8 

On  the  other  hand,  chapter  25,  which  is  at  present  assigned 
to  Bildad,  would,  according  to  the  test  of  the  metaphor,  belong 
rather  to  Zophar.  For  the  expression,  "  God  maketh  peace  in 
his  high  places,"  6  is  no  doubt  founded  on  Zophar's  previous 
utterance :  "  It  is  as  high  as  heaven." 7  In  connection  with  the 
question:  "  Is  there  any  number  to  his  armies,"8  it  also  harks 
back  to  Zophar's  war  metaphor.9  There  is  in  addition  a  very 
marked  resemblance  between  the  metaphor: 

"  Behold  the  moon  hath  no  brightness, 
And  the  stars  are  not  pure  in  his  sight,"1* 

1  Job  8:  2. 
«  Job  8:  22. 
«  Job  18:   12. 
*  Job  27 :  23. 
«  Job  18:   17. 
•Job  25:  2. 
'Job.  11:  8. 
8  Job  25:  3. 
"Job  20:  24,  25. 
10  Job  25 :  5. 


INDUCTIONS   FROM   STUDY   OF   PART   II.  73 

and  the  simile: 

"  Thy  life  shall  be  clearer  than  the  noon  day ; 
Though  there  be  darkness  it  shall  be  as  the  morning."1 

The  passage  5-14  in  Chapter  26,  which  Moulton,  Bickell, 
Cheyne  and  Duhm  ascribe  to  Bildad,  but  which  in  the  received 
text  is  ascribed  to  Job,  would  seem  from  the  sources  of  its  meta- 
phors, rightly  to  belong  to  Job.  The  cloud,  the  pillars,  Rahab, 
the  swift  serpent  are  all  distinctive  of  Job.  The  wonderful 
mining  lyric,2  which  has  been  rejected  by  Siegfried,  taken  sepa- 
rately by  Duhm,  ascribed  to  Zophar  by  Moulton,  would  from 
the  point  of  view  of  this  essay,  be  properly  assigned  to  Job. 
There  is  nothing  in  the  metaphors  used  by  either  Zophar  or 
Bildad,  to  suggest  such  a  carefully  wrought  out  metaphor  from 
mining  as  is  here  developed.  But  Job  has  used  a  metaphor 
from  mining,  in  this  same  round  of  speeches,  to  conclude  per- 
haps the  most  dramatic  passage  of  the  poem : 

"But  he  knoweth  the  way  that  I  take; 
When  he  hath  tried  me  I  shall  come  forth  as  gold." » 

This  metaphor  of  the  refining  of  gold,  put  by  the  author  in  the 
mouth  of  Job  at  this  point,  would  seem  to  be  suggestive  of  the 
longer  metaphor  with  which  he  intended  to  close  Job's  final 
answer  in  the  cycle. 

The  rearrangement  of  the  cycle,  according  to  the  metaphoric 
test,  would  be  as  follows : 

Eliphaz's  speech:  Chapter  22. 

Job's  reply:  Chapter  23;  24:  1-17;  22-25. 

Bildad:  Chapters  27:  7-10;  13-23;  24:  18-21. 

Job:  Chapter  26. 

Zophar:  Chapter  25. 

Job :  27 : 1-6 ;  11, 12 :  Chapter  28. 

»Job  11:   17. 
3  Job  28. 
•Job  23:   10. 


74  METAPHORS    IN    BOOK   OF    JOB. 

6.  LIMITATIONS  IN  INTERPRETATION  OF  THE  FIGURATIVE 
EXPRESSIONS. 

Yet  all  that  is  here  claimed  for  the  importance  and  force  of 
the  metaphor,  is  said  with  a  realization  of  the 
Specific  limitations  of  this  literary  test.     In  the  Song  of 

i  erary  Songs,  the  lover  says,  that  the  heroine's  nose  is  as 

the  tower  of  Lebanon  which  looketh  toward 
Damascus.1  The  Psalmist  declares,  "  Out  of  the  mouths  of 
babes  and  sucklings,  thou  hast  ordained  strength."2  Jesus  says 
of  the  bread :  "  This  is  my  body,"  and  of  the  wine  "  This  is  my 
blood."3  Job  is  made  to  say,  "I  know  that  my  Redeemer 
liveth  " ;  "  My  steps  are  washed  with  butter."  "  The  rocks  pour 
me  out  rivers  of  oil."  "  Am  I  a  sea  or  a  sea  monster  ? "  These 
expressions  may  be  taken  literally.  Theologians  have  main- 
tained that  they  mean  just  what  they  say.  It  is  however  hard 
to  see  how  Job  could  at  once  be  a  sea  and  a  sea  monster,  or  how 
the  Shulammite's  nose  could  be  the  tower  of  Lebanon ;  and  even 
the  most  literal  must  find  it  difficult  to  explain  the  spoken  wis- 
dom of  babes. 

It  might  be  too  much  to  claim  that  in  Job,  every  statement  is 

a  metaphor;  that  there  is  no  literal  assertion;  that  the  whole 

book,  prose  and  poetry,  is  just  one  long  allegory.     But  this 

would  be  nearer  the  truth  than  to  attempt  to  minimize  the 

elements  of  imagination,  and  to  read  direct  statement  where 

simile  is  intended.     What  does  Job  mean  when  he  says  that  the 

rocks  poured  him  out  rivers  of  oil,  or  that  his  steps  were  washed 

with  butter  ?     What  does  he  mean  when  he  asks,  "  Am  I  a  sea 

or  a  sea  monster?"     As  we  answer  these  questions,  we  must 

answer  the  query,  what  does  he  mean  when  he  says,  "I  know 

A  that  my  Redeemer  liveth."     Here  is  the  poetry  of  the  book  of 

I    Job,  elemental  and  universal.     What  the  author  says  must  be 

\   interpreted  as  literature,  giving  expression,  as  is  the  fashion  ef 

N^all  great  works  of  literature,  to  problems  of  life,  love,  death  and 

sorrow. 

1  Song  of  Solomon  7 :  4. 

aPs.  8:  2. 

•John  6:  51;  Luke  22:   19. 


INDUCTIONS   FROM    STUDY   OF   PART   II.  75 

But  Job  is  not  philosophy.     Here  is  no  argument  for  immor- / 
,          tality,  as  in  the  Phaedo  of  Socrates ;  no  argument 

Content  ^or  ^e  existence  °^  a  God,  as  in  Diman's  Theistic 

Argument,  or  Flint's  Theism;  no  balancing  of 
probabilities  in  order  to  reach  a  conclusion,  as  in  Bishop  Butler's 
Analogy  of  Religion.  The  book  of  Job  is  a  literary  art  form. 
Though  the  problem  of  human  suffering  finds  expression  here, 
it  is  presented  as  a  problem  of  experience,  not  of  philosophy. 
If  one  wishes  to  take  its  statements  literally,  he  may;  but  he 
will  be  led  into  all  sorts  of  difficulty:  his  conclusions  will  be 
foolish,  and  can  be  accepted  by  only  the  superstitious  and 
ignorant.  But  let  him  interpret  them  as  metaphors,  and  they 
mean  as  much  or  as  little  as  he  has  mind  or  faith  to  see  with. 
The  book  of  Job  is  a  poem.  Try  arbitrarily  to  declare  the  mean- 
ing of  the  metaphors,  and  its  beauty  is  lost.  Try  to  build  up  on 
it  a  system  of  philosophy  or  theology,  and  its  wonderful  art  is 
destroyed  by  dogmatism.  Read  it  as  literature,  understand  it 
as  poetry,  and  it  triumphs  in  art  and  in  faith,  picturing  the  one 
man  who,  tried  in  the  furnace  of  affliction  and  without  hope,  yet 
maintained  the  integrity  of  his  way.  Read  in  this  way,  Job 
stands  before  us  in  fellowship  with  all  the  brave  spirits  of  litera- 
ture,— Luria,  Ulysses,  Prometheus,  and  the  rest ;  yet  more  brave 
than  all  that  brave  company,  sending  out  his  inspiring  cry :  "  I 
know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth." 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Budde,  K.    Das  Buch  Hiob.    Gottengen,  Vandenhoeck  &  Ruprecht,  1896. 
Bradley,  G.  G.    Lectures  on  Job.    Oxford,  Clarendon  Press,  1888. 
Bickkell,  G.    Das  Buch  Hiob.    Wein,  C.  Gerold's  Sohn,  1894. 
Cheyne,  T.  K.    Job  and  Solomon.    New  York,  Whittaker,  1887. 
Davidson,  A.  B.    The  Book  of  Job.    Cambridge,  The  University  Press,  1884. 

Encyclopedia  Brittanica. 

Delitzsch,  F.    The  Book  of  Job.    Edinburgh,  T.  T.  Clark,  2  vols.,  1866. 
Dillman,  A.    Das  Buch  Hiob.    Leipzig,  Hirgel,  1891. 
Driver,  S.  R.    Introduction  to  the  Literature  of  the  Old  Testament.    New 

York,  Scribner,  1900. 

Duhm,  B.    Das  Buch  Hiob.    Freiberg,  Leipzic,  1897. 
Gemmg,  J.  T.    The  Epic  of  the  Inner  Life.    New  York,  Houghton,  1891. 
Hoffman,  J.  G.  E.    Kiel,  1891. 


76  METAPHORS   IN   BOOK   OF   JOB. 

Meix,  A.    Das  Gedicht  von  Hiob.    Jena,  1870. 

Moulton,  R.  G.    The  Modern  Reader's  Bible.    New  York,  The  Macmillan  Co., 

1898. 

Reman,  E.    Le  Livre  de  Job.    Paris,  1865. 
Siegfried,  C.    The  Book  of  Job.    Baltimore,  The  Johns  Hopkins  Press, 

1903. 

Wright,  G.  H.  B.    The  Book  of  Job.    London,  Williams  and  Norgate,  1883. 
Swete,  H.  B.    The  Old  Testament  in  Greek.    University  Press,  1895. 
Cheyne,  T.  K.    The  Prophecies  of  Isaiah.    New  York,  Whittaker,  2  vols., 

1884. 
Moulton,  R.  G.    The  Literary  Study  of  the  Bible.    Boston,  Heath  &  Co., 

1899. 

Owen,  John.    Five  Great  Sceptic  Dramas.    London,  1896. 
Smith,  G.  A.    The  Historical  Geography  of  the  Holy  Land.    London,  Hodder 

&  Stoughton,  1901. 

Isaiah.    New  York,  Armstrong  &  Son,  2  vols.,  1893. 
Minor  Prophets.    New  York,  Armstrong  &  Son,  2  vols.,  1898. 
Cheyne.    Bible  Dictionary.    Scribner,  1899. 
Basting's  Bible  Dictionary.    New  York,  Macmillan,  189  . 
The  Jewish  Encyclopedia.    New  York,  Funk  &  Wagnall,  1904. 
Stedman,  E.  C.    The  Nature  and  Elements  of  Poetry.    Boston,  1892. 
Buck,  Gertrude.    Metaphor,  a  Study  in  the  Psychology  of  Rhetoric.    Ann 

Arbor,  Inland  Press,  1899. 
Gummere,  F.  B.    Hand  Book  of  Poetics.    Boston,  1888. 

Metaphor.    The  Anglo  Saxon,  Halle,  1881. 
Hunt,  Leigh.    Imagination  and  Fancy.    London,  1846. 
Minto,  Wm.    Manual  of  English  Prose  Literature.    Edinburgh,  1886. 


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